title: Overweight, obesity, and associated disease burden in the Veterans Affairs ambulatory care population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This report describes the prevalence of overweight and obesity and estimates the disease burden associated with excess weight in ambulatory Veterans Affairs (VA) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Height and weight were measured, and self-reported age and self-reported morbidities were obtained for 1,731 patients. Prevalence odds ratios explain the association of self-reported disease on increasing weight status category using body mass index.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-five percent of the participants were overweight or obese. Obesity was significantly higher in the younger patients. Graded increases in odds ratios were observed with increasing severity of overweight and obesity for all morbidities, except heart disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overweight, obesity, and associated disease burden are prevalent in the VA health care system, particularly in younger VA patients, which may contribute to the higher prevalence of certain morbidities observed in VA populations compared with private sector outpatients. Department of Veterans Affairs should emphasize obesity prevention and treatment during the design and implementation of ambulatory care services.
authors.affiliation: Tufts University, 711 Washington Street, 13th Floor, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
authors.forename: Eric M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Nowicki
authors.forename: Charles J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Billington
authors.forename: Allen S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Levine
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hoover
authors.forename: Aviva
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Must
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Naumova
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014728:Veterans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*