Causal beliefs about obesity and associated health behaviors: results from a population-based survey

International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity

Research

Catharine Wang¹  Elliot J Coups² 

[1] Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA;The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA;UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ, USA;

关键词: Physical Activity;    Obesity;    Weight Management;    Vegetable Intake;    Physical Activity Behavior;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1479-5868-7-19

 received in 2009-10-12, accepted in 2010-03-03,  发布年份 2010

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundSeveral genetic variants are associated with obesity risk. Promoting the notion of genes as a cause for obesity may increase genetically deterministic beliefs and decrease motivation to engage in healthy lifestyle behaviors. Little is known about whether causal beliefs about obesity are associated with lifestyle behaviors. Study objectives were as follows: 1) to document the prevalence of various causal beliefs about obesity (i.e., genes versus lifestyle behaviors), and 2) to determine the association between obesity causal beliefs and self-reported dietary and physical activity behaviors.MethodsThe study data were drawn from the 2007 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). A total of 3,534 individuals were included in the present study.ResultsOverall, 72% of respondents endorsed the belief that lifestyle behaviors have 'a lot' to do with causing obesity, whereas 19% indicated that inheritance has 'a lot' to do with causing obesity. Multinomial logistic regression analyses indicated that the belief that obesity is inherited was associated with lower reported levels of physical activity (OR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.77-0.99) and fruit and vegetable consumption (OR = 0.87, 95% CI: 0.76-0.99). In contrast, the belief that obesity is caused by lifestyle behaviors was associated with greater reported levels of physical activity (OR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.03-1.62), but was not associated with fruit and vegetable intake (OR = 1.07, 95% CI: 0.90-1.28).ConclusionsCausal beliefs about obesity are associated with some lifestyle behaviors. Additional research is needed to determine whether promoting awareness of the genetic determinants of obesity will decrease the extent to which individuals will engage in the lifestyle behaviors essential to healthy weight management.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Wang and Coups; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2010