<p>Syftet med vår studie var att undersöka hur mycket av alkoholkonsumtionen hos stu-denter som kan prediceras genom biologiska (BMI, ålder och kön), psykologiska (Lo-cus of Control och The Big Five Personality Theory) samt sociala (alkoholvanor i familjen och anledningar till alkoholkonsumtion) faktorer. Vi har valt att undersöka varje individs alkoholkonsumtion i förhållande till BMI och därefter se hur mycket av variansen som kan prediceras av de variabler vi undersökt. Vårt urval bestod av gym-nasieelever och universitetsstudenter i Växjö. Sammanlagt ingick 201 personer i un-dersökningen, 107 män och 94 kvinnor. Vi använde oss av en enkät för insamling av vår data. Vi gjorde en multipel regressions analys som visade att alkoholkonsumtion kan prediceras till 34,3% av de prediktorer vi använt oss av. De biologiska faktorerna predicerade enskild sammanlagt 13,1% av konsumtionen, de psykologiska faktorerna 13,3% och de sociala faktorerna 7,9% av alkoholkonsumtionen i vårt urval. Studiens syfte ämnar belysa en del av de faktorer som påverkar en individs alkoholkonsumtion, för att skapa en djupare förståelse av alkoholmönster hos studenter.</p> / <p>The purpose of this study was to investigate to what extent alcohol consumption among students is predicted by biological (BMI, age and gender), psychological (Lo-cus of Control and The Big Five Theory) and social (drinking habits within the family and reasons for alcohol consumption) factors. We have chosen to investigate each respondent’s alcohol consumption in relation to BMI and then see to what extent the variance can be predicted by the variables we have investigated. Our selection con-sists of upper secondary school students and university students in Växjö. A total of 201 persons participated in the inquiry, of whom 107 were men and 94 were women. The data was collected by means of a questionnaire. We conducted a multiple regres-sion analysis which showed alcohol consumption can be predicted to 34.3% by the variables in this study. In our selection the biological factors alone predicted 13.1% of the alcohol consumption, the psychological factors 13.3% and the social factors 7.9%. This study seeks to highlight some of the factors that affect an individual’s consump-tion of alcohol, this in order to create a deeper understanding concerning alcohol pat-terns among students.</p>

To date there are no studies focusing on the relationship between subjective social status (SSS) and weight perceptions among young people. This study aims to fill this gap in current available literature by examining associations between youth’s family SSS and individual SSS with their gender, race, body mass index (BMI), and weight perceptions. Questionnaires and BMI data were collected from 1,171 youth participating in the 2008 Global Finals of Destination ImagiNation (DI) hosted by the University of Tennessee. Participants ranged in ages 11 to 18 years. Regression analyses indicated that gender, race and individual SSS were significant predictors of BMI. Gender was the only significant predictor of underweight perceptions, while gender, race, and individual SSS were predictors of overweight perceptions. Results for outcomes based on two grade levels, middle school and high school, are also discussed. Findings have implications of gender and racial differences for BMI and weight perception status. Lastly, individual SSS within the school community was a significant predictor of both BMI and overweight perception.

Current health recommendations encourage weight loss for overweight and obese individuals. However, the importance of weight to health is still unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of weight loss on overall health in a sample of adults who have completed a 10 or 12 week weight loss intervention. The study sample included males and females (n =99) between the ages of 27 -64 years that had a BMI of 29-45 kg/m². The study design is a secondary data analysis of data from two different behavioral weight loss interventions. Both interventions prescribed a reduced calorie diet, increased physical activity, and self-monitoring of diet and physical activity. Of the 99 participants, 28 lost greater than 5% of baseline body weight and saw the most significant changes in waist circumference (p<0.001), systolic blood pressure (p=0.004), diastolic blood pressure (p=0.002), and total cholesterol (p=0.001). This group experienced improvements in every lab value tested. More research with larger sample sizes and longer trial periods need to be done in order to strengthen the validity of the weight loss interventions.

Most people have difficulty maintaining a healthy diet. Both social and individual factors play a role in shaping one's diet, and individual factors might be differentially associated with eating depending on social conditions. The present research focuses on eating to regulate emotion and body weight in the context of couple relationships. Forty-three committed heterosexual couples reported on emotion-regulation strategies including the use of eating to regulate emotion (ERE). During a lab visit, participants discussed their health habits with their partners and their body composition was measured (e.g.: weight, height, percent body fat). Finally, participants completed daily diaries assessing their emotions as well as their food intake relative to their own normal eating. I first tested whether ERE was associated with other measures of emotion regulation as well as body composition at an individual level. As predicted, ERE demonstrated internal consistency, was moderately correlated with an established measure of emotion-eating, and uncorrelated with other measures of emotion regulation. High ERE was associated with higher body mass index, as well as higher waist circumference and percent body fat among older women, and with higher percent body fat among younger men. Secondly, I tested whether self-reported ERE predicted connections between daily emotional fluctuations and eating. Consistent with my hypothesis, those who reported high ERE ate worse when they experienced negative emotions or did not eat better when they experienced positive ones (which was the case among people with low ERE). Finally, I tested whether ERE in couples was associated with body composition under specific relationship conditions. As predicted, when both partners had high ERE, women who used more we-talk during a discussion of health habits also had higher BMI. However, women who used high I-talk in such couples had lower BMI despite having high ERE. Moreover, in such couples expression of negative emotion by partners was associated with higher BMI. Identifying individual and couple-level factors shaping dietary practices adds to development of interventions for poor health habits. It is an important step in shifting disease-focused models of medical care towards more comprehensive, patient-centered care.

ABSTRACT Overweight and obesity is an increasing problem worldwide although high-income countries take a leed. High BMI during pregnancy and delivery constitute to many risks for both the mother and her outcome. Intervention programmes with the purpose to get the pregnant women to eat healthier and to excercise more are now working out in many different shapes. The effect of these activities varies. The aim of this study was to investigate if interventions during pregnancy, with women who’s BMI are 25 or more, affects health of the mother and her expected child, delivery outcome and self estimated health. The design of this study was quantitative. A total of 163 women participated in this study who took place i two cities in Sweden. All of the women gave birth at the same hospital. 96 of the women participated in the intervention group and 69 in the comparison group. Data was analyzed using SPSS. The results shows that most of the women (60 percent), choose not to participate in water aerobics. The results of the women who used a stepcounter showed that the women were more active during early pregnancy than later on. Results showed that there was a significantly increased risk for complications during delivery if the women had gained more than seven kilograms during pregnancy. Overweight women who had a weight gain of more than seven kilograms also had an increased risk for delivering large babies (more than 4000 gram), compared with those who gained less. There were no difference in self estimated health between the groups. The results of the study shows that a weight gain less than eight kilograms is positively associated with less complications during pregnancy. Women should be helped to get motivated to live a healthy and active life during pregnancy. What motivates pregnant women towards healthier living needs to be examined further.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om övervikt kan påverka mäns och kvinnors arbetsmarknadsutfall, definierat som arbetslöner och arbetslöshet, på den svenska arbetsmarknaden samt om övervikten har en annan effekt hos individer med ett annat etniskt ursprung än svenskt. Huruvida det föreligger ett samband mellan övervikt och arbetslön, övervikt och arbetslöshet, om sambandet är genusdifferentierat samt om sambandet ser annorlunda ut för män och kvinnor med en eller två föräldrar med annat etniskt ursprung utgör studiens frågeställningar. Dessa frågeställningar prövas genom ett riksrepresentativt urval av Sveriges vuxna befolkning från Levnadsnivåundersökningen år 2000 (N=5142) där linjär- och logistisk analys används. Resultaten tyder på att övervikt inte har några negativa effekter på arbetslöner oavsett kön eller etnicitet. Däremot visar resultaten på att övervikt leder till större risk för arbetslöshet för kvinnorna. Interaktionen mellan övervikt och annat etniskt ursprung på arbetsmarknadsutfall kunde dock inte påvisas, kanske på grund av ett för litet urval. Detta gör att vi inte kan dra några slutsatser om effekter skiljer sig om man tar hänsyn till etnisk bakgrund.

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: The prevalence of adiposity (overweight and obesity) is increasing in among Ghanaian women. The disparity between urban and rural Ghanaian women in adiposity is seldom described due to data paucity. The purpose of this study was to provide a comparative analysis between urban and rural women in regards to the socio-demographic factors associated with adiposity. METHODS: The analyses used cross-sectional data from the Ghana Demographic Health Survey involving child bearing women ages14 to 49 years old. The eligible population comprised 4848 non-pregnant women (2023 from urban and 2825 from rural areas). Residence-specific (urban versus rural) associations between selected independent variables and adiposity were quantified using odds ratios from univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Stepwise logistic regression analyses were used to describe the variables that were best predictors of adiposity. RESULTS: The overall crude prevalence of overweight (25.0-29.9 kg/m2) and obesity (≥30kg/m2) were 40% and 18% in urban and rural areas, respectively. There was a positive statistically significant difference between urban and rural women with respect to the distribution of overweight as well as obese (p<.001). Result from the univariate models showed that among rural and urban resident women, older age, higher education, higher wealth, and lack of job was each associated with increased odds of overweight. Compared to Akan women, being of other ethnic group was associated with decreased odds of overweight in women of urban and rural settings. Lack of fruits consumption and Muslim religion were each associated with increased odds of overweight in women who live in rural settings. Consumption of less than 5 fruits in a day was associated with decreased odds of overweight in urban resident women. For urban and rural resident women, wealth index and age were the best predictors for overweight. Older age, higher education, higher weight index, lack of jobs and being other than Akan ethnicity were each associated with increased odds of obesity in urban and rural settings. Compared to married women, being unmarried was associated with increased odds of obesity in urban and rural women. Wealth index was the best predictor variable of obesity in urban women. older age, education, wealth index, having a job, and fruit consumptions were the best predictors of obesity in rural women. CONCLUSION: Adiposity was more prevalent in urban living women compare to women who reside in rural areas. This finding is critical for planning effective adiposity control in Ghana. Proving education for Ghana women may enhance their wealth and knowledge about adiposity.

The impact of a rapid economic growth on the patterns and trends of overweight and obesity is profound. Obesity is closely linked to lifestyle choices and the risk behaviours that lead to obesity-related morbidities in young adults can be traced to the acceptable norms from childhood through to adulthood. The aims of this study were to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity using the World Health Organization classification and to investigate the influence of perceptions/beliefs and health-risk behaviours and their association with overweight and obesity among female university students of the United Arab Emirates University. A cross-sectional survey of the lifestyle choices, risk behaviours and perceptions of obesity with the Body Mass Index (BMI) status of 321 young adult women aged 18-30 years was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire. The female students responded to questions about their diet and physical activity patterns. They reported their height/weight, and weight-related measurements were taken to calculate the BMI. Overall, 20.2% of the students were overweight while 8.40% were obese. The likelihood of being overweight or obese was higher among students who were older, married and had a family history of obesity. Faculty of study (p=0.018) was significantly associated with prevalence of overweight and obesity. Many of the students did not consume fruits and vegetables or eat breakfast daily. Students who spent long hours on sedentary activities were more likely to be obese, with lack of time reported as a major reason for physical inactivity. Respondents wanted to lose weight most commonly for better health and well-being and because of problems with clothes sizes. In view of the high number of health risk behaviours and prevalence of overweight and obesity, prompt action is needed to initiate and sustain interventions and preventive measures that could change the health-compromising behaviours associated with excess weight.

Obesity has risen drastically in the past few decades. Some experts contribute this to an increased prevalence of eating food away from home and consuming large portion sizes. A popular discussion in policy and legislation arenas has been mandatory implementation of nutrition information on restaurant chain menus. Menu labeling in restaurants that have 20 or more locations nationally was first implemented by New York City in an effort to increase consumer awareness of the calorie content of menu entrees. Since New York City’s implementation of restaurant menu labeling in 2008, there have been conflicting studies on whether nutrition menu labeling improves consumers’ selection of healthier menu items. Conducted on consumers in Lexington, Kentucky, this study focuses on factors influencing nutrition information on restaurant menus. This experimental research design included one menu with calorie information next to the menu items while the other menu did not provide calorie information. Also, this study compares the level of hunger of participants to their restaurant menu selection and participant’s BMI status to their restaurant menu selection. This study shows that when calorie information is provided, it does not influence the participants purchasing behavior.

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