title: Politics of the obesity epidemic: results of the 2003 Louisiana Physicians Survey.
abstract: The obesity epidemic is producing growing interest in public policy measures targeting prevention. We developed a printed survey suitable for mailing to primary care physicians in Louisiana. Questions were asked concerning health policies relating to motorcycle helmet use, smoking, and obesity. We also obtained personal data, including type of practice, gender, age, ethnicity, personal income, height, and weight. Of 993 surveys mailed, there were 218 responses: 74% were male, 55% were from East Baton Rouge parish, an urban location, and 84% had an income of > dollar 100,000. Of respondents, 74% strongly agreed with helmet laws, 73% strongly agreed with limitations on smoking spaces and 62% strongly agreed with cigarette taxation. Concerning health policies related to obesity prevention, strongest support was for school concession policies, with 73% reporting strong agreement or agreement. There was support for regulating food advertisements, where 60% agree or strongly agree. However, only 29% agree or strongly agree with the taxing of unhealthy foods, compared to 78% of respondents favoring cigarette taxation, a statistically significant difference (< 0.0001). Support was particularly weak for governmental involvement in obesity discrimination, with only 16% of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing. Political response to the obesity epidemic is only now emerging. However, our survey indicates that support among Louisiana physicians for obesity-related policy is not equal to support for policies directed against helmet and smoking laws.
authors.affiliation: Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.
authors.forename: Donna H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.forename: Catherine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Champagne
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D008145:Louisiana / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires