Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
PLoS One. 2020 Nov 25;15(11):e0242714. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242714. eCollection 2020.
Little is known about the impact of race/ethnicity on weight change at university. The objective of this study is to determine if ethnicity has an impact on obesity traits in a multiethnic cohort of first-year students at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada.
183 first year students from the three most represented ethnic groups (South Asian, East Asian, and white-Caucasian) in our study sample were followed longitudinally with data collected early in the academic year and towards the end of the year. Obesity parameters including body weight, body mass index (BMI), waist and hip circumference, and waist hip ratio (WHR) were analyzed. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for pairwise comparison of traits from the beginning to the end of the year in the absence of adjustments. Linear regression was used with covariate adjustments to investigate the effect of ethnicity on obesity traits.
A significant increase in weight by 1.49 kg (95%CI: 1.13-1.85) was observed over the academic year in the overall analyzed sample. This was accompanied by significant gains in BMI, waist and hip circumferences, and WHR. Ethnicity stratified analysis indicated significant increase in all investigated obesity traits in East Asians and all traits, but WHR, in South Asians. White-Caucasians only displayed significant increases in weight and BMI. Body weight and hip circumference were significantly lower in East Asians compared to white-Caucasians at baseline. However, East Asians displayed a significantly larger increase in mean BMI and weight compared to white-Caucasians after first-year. South Asians displayed larger waist circumference at baseline compared to East Asians and larger WHR compared to white-Caucasians.
Our findings demonstrate that ethnicity has an impact on obesity traits in first-year university students. Universities should take ethnicity into account while implementing effective obesity prevention programs to promote healthy and active lifestyles for students.
关于种族/民族对大学体重变化的影响知之甚少。本研究的目的是确定在加拿大安大略省麦克马斯特大学的一个多民族一年级学生队列中，种族是否对肥胖特征有影响。
我们的研究样本中来自三个代表性最多的族裔（南亚裔、东亚裔和白种-高加索裔）的 183 名一年级学生进行了纵向随访，数据在学年早期和接近年底收集。分析了肥胖参数，包括体重、体重指数（BMI）、腰围和臀围以及腰臀比（WHR）。在没有调整的情况下，使用 Wilcoxon 符号秩检验对年初和年底的特征进行两两比较。使用线性回归进行协变量调整，以调查种族对肥胖特征的影响。
在整个分析样本中，整个学年体重增加了 1.49 公斤（95%CI：1.13-1.85）。这伴随着 BMI、腰围和臀围以及 WHR 的显著增加。按种族分层分析表明，东亚人的所有研究肥胖特征以及南亚人的所有特征（除 WHR 外）均显著增加。白种-高加索人仅显示体重和 BMI 显著增加。东亚人的体重和臀围在基线时明显低于白种-高加索人。然而，东亚人在第一年后的平均 BMI 和体重增加明显大于白种-高加索人。南亚人在基线时的腰围比东亚人更大，而 WHR 比白种-高加索人更大。
我们的研究结果表明，种族对一年级大学生的肥胖特征有影响。大学在实施有效的肥胖预防计划时应考虑种族因素，以促进学生的健康和积极生活方式。
