Abstract
Objective: To determine which dietary and lifestyle choices and which attitudes toward diet and health most contribute to adiposity and whether those factors differ by gender.
Methods: Multiple regression was used to estimate the effect of energy intake, energy expenditure, resources, demographics, and attitudes toward diet and health on self-reported body mass index (BMI) in a nationally representative sample of the US population.
Sample: This study used secondary data from the 1994–1996 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII) and its telephone follow-up, the Diet and Health Knowledge Survey (DHKS). CSFII is a nationally representative survey of individuals which obtained 24 h recalls of all food intake on two nonconsecutive days. The DHKS data set obtained information on knowledge and attitudes toward dietary guidance and health from individuals 20 y of age and over, who participated in the CSFII. Our sample consisted of responses from 5512 individuals.
Results: We found that many of the variables previously found to or hypothesized to influence body weight do so. Our analysis shows that choices and attitudes do matter for adiposity. Moreover, the analysis shows that the choices males and females make often have quite different effects on BMI. For females all the variables we constructed to represent energy intake, energy expenditure, and financial and human resources are significant. Most of the variables that characterize attitudes toward diet and health are significant. For males, far fewer variables are significant. Our tests for gender-related differences show that whether or not males believe their weight is predetermined has no influence on BMI. In contrast, women who do not believe that their weight is predetermined have lower BMI values than those who believe weight is genetically determined.
Discussion: While our qualitative conclusion—choices and attitudes affect BMI—is unsurprising, the quantitative aspects are important. The analysis shows that factors affecting BMI differ systematically by gender. Understanding these systematic differences is critical to the design of information campaigns. Our analysis suggests that entirely different campaigns are necessary to communicate the importance of diet and lifestyle choices to men and to women.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Nayga RM . Impacts of sociodemographic factors on perceived importance of nutrition in food shopping J Cons Affairs 1997 31: 1–9.
Nayga RM . Determinants of consumers' use of nutritional information on food packages J Agric Applied Econ 1996 28: 303–312.
Binkley JK, Eales J, Jekanowski M . The relation between dietary change and rising US obesity Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2000 24: 1032–1039.
Weimer J . Accelerating the trend toward healthy eating: public and private efforts In: Frazão E (ed) America's eating habits: changes and consequences Agricultural Information Bulletin no. 750 US Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service: Washington, DC 1999.
Shah BV, Barnwell BG, Bieler GS . SUDAAN user's manual, release 7.5 Research Triangle Institute: Research Triangle Park, NC 1997.
Lin B-H, Frazão E, Guthrie J . Away-from-home foods increasingly important to quality of American diet Agricultural Information Bulletin no. 749 Economic Research Service, US Department of Agriculture: Washington, DC 1999.
Morgan KJ, Zabik ME, Stampley GL . The role of breakfast in diet adequacy of the U.S. adult population J Am Coll Nutr 1986 5: 551–563.
Haines PS, Guilkey DK, Popkin BM . Trends in breakfast consumption of US adults between 1965 and 1991 J Am Diet Assoc 1996 96: 464–470.
Briefel R . National nutrition data: contributions and challenges Paper presented at National Institutes of Health Conference—Dietary Supplement Use in Children 12–13 February 2001 Bethesda, MD
Slesinski MJ, Subar AF, Kahle LL . Dietary intake of fat, fiber and other nutrients is related to the use of vitamin and mineral supplements in the United States: the 1992 National Health Interview Survey J Nutr 1996 126: 3001–3008.
Philipson TJ, Posner RA . The long-run growth in obesity as a function of technological change NBER Working Paper no. 7423 1999.
Pagán J, Dávila A . Obesity, occupational attainment, and earnings Soc Sci Q 1997 78: 756–770.
Rowland ML . Self-reported weight and height Am J Clin Nutr 1990 52: 1125–1133.
Cawley JH . Rational addiction, the consumption of calories, and body weight PhD dissertation, Department of Economics, University of Chicago August 1999.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kuchler, F., Lin, BH. The influence of individual choices and attitudes on adiposity. Int J Obes 26, 1017–1022 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802009
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802009
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Stable Genes and Changing Environments: Body Mass Index Across Adolescence and Young Adulthood
Behavior Genetics (2010)
-
BMI-based body size guides for women and men: development and validation of a novel pictorial method to assess weight-related concepts
International Journal of Obesity (2008)
-
Over, Under, or About Right: Misperceptions of Body Weight Among Food Stamp Participants
Obesity (2008)
-
The mitigating influence of time preference on the relation between smoking and BMI scores
International Journal of Obesity (2008)
-
An investigation of psychological, social and environmental correlates of obesity and weight gain in young women
International Journal of Obesity (2006)