Knowledge of the health consequences of obesity among overweight/obese Black and Hispanic adults.
OBJECTIVE
To measure knowledge of the health consequences of obesity among overweight/obese Black and Hispanic adults and examine the relationship to prior weight loss.


METHODS
Knowledge of the health consequences of obesity was assessed among 410 Black and Hispanic adults with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 enrolled in a behavior change weight loss study. The relationship between obesity risk knowledge and previous weight loss was also examined.


RESULTS
The majority of participants were knowledgeable of the risk of hypertension (94%), diabetes (96%), high cholesterol (91%), joint pains/arthritis (89%) and sleep apnea (89%) associated with obesity. Among post-menopausal age women, 53% were aware of the increased risk of breast cancer. There was no significant relationship between obesity risk knowledge and previous weight loss of 10 pounds or more (OR = 1.075, 95% CI: [0.808, 1.430]).


CONCLUSIONS
We found that knowledge of the health consequences of obesity was high, except for knowledge of the risk of breast cancer. Obesity risk knowledge was not associated with past weight loss.


CONCLUSIONS
Further health education is needed regarding the increased risk of breast cancer associated with obesity. Our data suggest that knowledge of the health consequences of obesity is not associated with weight loss success.
Ginger J
GJ
Winston
Erica
E
Caesar-Phillips
Janey C
JC
Peterson
Martin T
MT
Wells
Johanna
J
Martinez
Xi
X
Chen
Carla
C
Boutin-Foster
Mary
M
Charlson
D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000209:etiology; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006306:Health Surveys; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000209:etiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009519:New York City; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications*; D050177:Overweight; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012307:Risk Factors; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000209:etiology; D015431:Weight Loss