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A Kuskowska-Wolk

Publications and source records attributed to A Kuskowska-Wolk.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1993

Trends in body mass index and prevalence of obesity in Swedish men 1980-89.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To assess changes in the body mass index (BMI, weight (kg)/height2 (m2) and in the prevalence of obesity in Swedish men during the 1980s. DESIGN: Data from two successive cross sectional surveys were used. SETTING: The whole of Sweden. PARTICIPANTS: Subjects included in the analyses were 7055 men from a 1980-81 survey (response rate 83.4%) and 6081 men from a 1988-89 survey (response rate 79%). Men were aged 16-84 years and were a representative sample of Swedish males. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The results were based on self reported weight and height obtained during interview. After adjustment for sociodemographic variables, a significant increase in the mean BMI of the entire population of men was found between 1980-81 and 1988-89 (0.23 kg/m2; p < 0.001), with a particularly large increase in the 25-34 year age group (0.45 kg/m2; p < 0.0001) which corresponds to 1.4 kg for a man 180 cm tall). In manual workers this value was 0.25 kg/m2 (p < 0.0005). This increase was also reflected by a significant relative increase in the prevalence of the combination of overweight and obesity (BMI > 25 kg/m2) of about 19% (odds ratio = 1.19, 95% confidence intervals: 1.09, 1.29). CONCLUSIONS: During the 1980s the mean BMI and the prevalence of overweight and obesity among adult Swedish men increased.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Trends in body mass index and prevalence of obesity in Swedish women 1980-89.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To assess changes in the body mass index (BMI, weight (kg)/height2 (m2)) and in the prevalence of obesity in Swedish women during the 1980s. DESIGN: Data from two successive cross sectional surveys were used. SETTING: The whole of Sweden. SUBJECTS: A total of 7419 women from a 1980-81 survey (response rate 84.6%) and 6306 women from a 1988-89 survey (response rate 80.3%), aged 16-84 years, and forming a representative sample of Swedish women. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The results were based on self reported weight and height during interview. The mean BMI of the whole population, adjusted for age, education level, socioeconomic group, region, and nationality, increased by 0.17 kg/m2 (p = 0.0056) over the eight year period. The increase was particularly pronounced in the group aged 25-34 years (0.74 kg/m2; p < 0.0001, which corresponds to more than 2 kg for a woman 168 cm tall). The higher mean BMI was also reflected in the relative increase in the prevalence of obesity (BMI > 28.6 kg/m2) by 19% (odds ratio (OR) = 1.19; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04, 1.37) and of the combination of overweight and obesity (BMI > 23.8 kg/m2) by 12% (OR = 1.12; 95% CI 1.03, 1.23) in the whole female population. CONCLUSIONS: During the 1980s the mean BMI and the prevalence of overweight and obesity in adult Swedish women increased. An influence of the sociocultural environment on the body weight in women was stronger than that in men.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Effects of different designs and extension of a food frequency questionnaire on response rate, completeness of data and food frequency responses.

The authors studied how the introduction of several modifications to a basic food frequency questionnaire can influence the results of dietary surveys. Modifications covered eight combinations based on three levels: increasing versus decreasing order of frequency categories; questionnaires without versus with questions about portion sizes, and questionnaires without versus with extra non-dietary questions. The sample included 6783 women between the ages of 40 and 70 years who took part in mammography screening. The women were randomly assigned to one of the eight study groups. All of the women in each group received one of the eight differently modified questionnaires. The forms extended in length by extra non-dietary questions and portion size categories resulted in a 20% higher total non-response compared to the shorter basic form. Partial non-response was significantly lower for all four questionnaire types that included portion sizes. When portion sizes were included in the questionnaire, the reported mean frequency of consumption was significantly reduced for fat (-10 times per month), milk (-6), bread (-5), vegetables (-2) and fish (-0.4). The decreasing order of responses to the frequency categories was associated with a statistically significant increase in the frequency responses for bread (2.6 times per month), vegetables (2) and fish (0.6). These data provide evidence that the design and extension of food frequency questionnaires influence the results of dietary studies.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Relationship between questionnaire data and medical records of height, weight and body mass index.

Although some studies have analysed the accuracy of self-reported weight and height data in survey studies, no attention has been paid to the accuracy of the body mass index (BMI, kg/m2), derived from these data and often considered as a reliable indirect estimate of relative body weight. Based on data from about 3400 participants in a study, questionnaire self-reports of these anthropometric data were compared to measured weight and height. A flat slope syndrome (under-reporting of high values, over-reporting of low ones) was found for weight and BMI for both sexes. A low sensitivity of BMI based on self-reported values were found, especially for the obese sub-population. Reliance upon questionnaire-derived self-reports will lead to considerable underestimation of the prevalence of obesity. Only 55 per cent of obese women and 60 per cent of obese men according to measured values were correctly classified as such. Correction of self-reported data according to regression models describing the relationship between questionnaire self-reports and medical records of body size parameters should be considered for some types of epidemiologic studies such as those using BMI as a categorized variable. The statistical rationale for the models used here is discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Prevalence of obesity in Sweden: cross-sectional study of a representative adult population.

In order to facilitate research on body weight related diseases, and to plan suitable prevention and intervention programmes, data concerning the prevalence of overweight and obesity are required on a nationwide scale. In this study, data for weight and height from a representative sample (n = 14,549) of adult Swedes (16-84 years of age) were analysed. Data were obtained from the Study on Living Conditions conducted by Statistics Sweden, and body mass indices (BMI, kg m-2) were calculated from these interviews. They were then calibrated, since we had previously found that reported anthropometric measurements must be corrected so as to conform to recorded height and weight values, and we have developed equations accordingly. The overall mean BMI (+/- SE) was 24.02 +/- 0.99 kg m-2 for women and 24.56 +/- 0.88 kg m-2 for men. However, with regard to age, striking differences between the sexes were observed using this cross-sectional approach. Whereas in men there was a moderate increase in BMI with age, there was a sharp increase in women from 45-54 years onwards. If obesity is defined according to WHO recommendations (BMI for men greater than 30.0 kg m-2, and for women greater than 28.6 kg m-2), then 34.5% of all men in our sample were found to be overweight and 6.6% were found to be obese. The corresponding figures for women are 31.2% and 13.1%. Our data suggest that, on a nation-wide scale, overweight and obesity are common in men and women, but in women there is a marked increase from the menopause onward, for reasons that have yet to be clarified.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

The "true" prevalence of obesity. A comparison of objective weight and height measures versus self-reported and calibrated data.

A regression model that describes the relationship between body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) based on self-reported weight and height, and body mass index based on objective measurements, makes it possible to calibrate the BMI based on self-reports. Calibrated data on prevalence of obesity are much higher than those calculated from self-reports. The aim of the present study was to evaluate which estimates of prevalence of obesity agreed better with objective values, those based on self-reported data or those based on calibrated BMIs. Results from two different representative samples of the same Swedish rural county were compared. Objective values were based on measurements of 2190 men and 1511 women (25-65 years of age) in 1977. Self-reports from 148 men and 147 women (25-64 years of age) were derived from the ULF-study, 1980-81 (Survey on Living Conditions) and then calibrated. The comparison demonstrated that calibrated data, compared with self-reports, are much closer to objective values. There was a striking agreement between objective (14.0%) and calibrated (13.6%) estimates of prevalence of women with BMI greater than 30.0 kg/m2, in contrast to the under-estimation by self-reports (8.1%). The calibration method was reliable for the evaluation of the "true" prevalence of obesity in population studies.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

The predictive validity of body mass index based on self-reported weight and height.

In the Western society where obesity is a less desired condition it is natural that individuals may tend to report values of weight and height that they believe conform with current norms. Although several previous studies have shown that for the individual the difference between reported and controlled data may be small, such differences may affect body mass index distributions in various populations. The predictive validity of self-reported weight and height and of body mass index (BMI) calculated from these measures was analysed by using data from a random sample including 182 women with a mean age of 62 years (20-84 years) and 119 men with a mean age of 56 years (16-84 years) from a health care centre. Multiple multivariate linear regression analysis was used to study the relationship between self-reported (subjective) and controlled (objective) values. The regression lines of subjective parameters on controlled ones were significantly different from the line of identity for both sexes for weight, height and BMI (P less than 0.001). These lines demonstrate a 'flat slope syndrome', i.e. there is a systematic tendency for high values to be underestimated and for low ones to be overestimated. There was one exception for height in women, which was always overestimated, even for tall subjects. A systematic tendency for overweight and obese subjects to underestimate their body size and conversely for underweight subjects to overestimate it resulted in an incorrect BMI category distribution of 30 per cent of these subjects. This fact may invalidate data and conclusions of population surveys based on self-reported measures.

Adolescent↗