title: Prevalence of overweight and obesity among Seventh-day Adventist African American and Caucasian college students.
abstract: All age, sex, and racial groups are affected by the obesity epidemic in the United States, although disparities exist among these groups. The Seventh-day Adventists are a religious group of people who are believed to live longer and healthier lives than do their non-Adventist counterparts because they do not smoke or drink alcohol and they eat a healthier diet. This study assessed the prevalence of overweight and obesity among Seventh-day Adventist college students attending 2 private universities in the southern United States. Most students' body mass index (65.8%) was within the normal weight category, 3.7% were underweight, 20.6% were overweight, and 9.9% were obese. Body mass index > or = 25 kg/m2 was more prevalent among men and African Americans. In all ethnic subgroups, the prevalence of overweight and obesity was lower than that among non-Adventist students reported in other studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina 27858, USA. pawlakr@ecu.edu
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pawlak
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sovyanhadi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology*; D015995:Prevalence; D033303:Protestantism; D012307:Risk Factors; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult