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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Taejin Jung, Communication Studies Department, SUNY Oswego, 7 Lanigan Hall, Oswego, NY 13126, 315.312.3527, jung@oswego.edu

Over the several decades, overweight and obesity levels have increased among both genders, all ages, all racial/ethnic group, and all education level in every States. The latest study based on the nationally representative sample of U.S. adults estimates that about 112,000 deaths are associated with obesity each year in the United States. This study analyzed the main factors that may be responsible for this rapidly increasing rate of overweight and obesity specifically in Florida. Until now, most research that explains overweight or obesity prevalence use individual indicators such as personal income, educational attainment, physical activity, and dietary behavior. Several multilevel studies have provided empirical evidence showing that unequal distributions of social resources render an added explanation for health outcomes net of the effects of individual-level SES and behavioral characteristics. This study proposes a new hypothesis that focuses on the regional effects (e.g., Florida counties) as a predictor of gaining weight in combination with individual socioeconomic status (SES) and health behaviors such as physical exercise and healthy eating. To study the determinants of adult overweight or obesity, 2002 Florida County BRFSS Data was analyzed for individual-level indicators. Florida county-level census data were employed to represent county-level societal conditions such as the number of recreational facilities and food service and drinking places per capita, medium income of each county, and population density. Ecological effects of those factors measured at county-level on overweight or obesity attenuated after incorporating individual SES and unhealthy behavioral factors, and accounted for small amount of variance.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to

• Know the main determinants of adult overweight or obesity in Florida.
• Understand the comparative effects of individual- and environmental- level on the problem of gaining weight.
• Understand the utility of multi-level analysis when exploring the solution of public health problem.

Keywords: Obesity, Environmental Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered