Factors Associated With Obesity: A Case–Control Study of Young Adult Singaporean Males

Abstract

A case-control study among Singapore Armed Forces' newly enlisted Servicemen was conducted to examine factors associated with male obesity. Four hundred and fifty-nine individuals from the Obese Basic Military Training program were selected as "cases" (average age: 19.5, body mass index: 30.4) and another 340 individuals were selected from the Normal Basic Military Training program as "controls" (average age: 19.3, body mass index: 21.4). Information such as family background, socioeconomic factors, and lifestyle practices were captured using facilitator-led questionnaires. Several variables were significantly associated with obesity after adjustments for possible confounders. These include childhood obesity (odds ratio [OR] = 2.06), less than an hour of exercise per day (OR = 2.97), Indian ethnicity (OR = 2.22), specific education backgrounds (especially that of Institute of Technical Education-OR = 2.75), father's employment at nonmanagerial/professional jobs (OR = 1.52), mother's employment at managerial/professional jobs (OR = 2.02), regular smoking (OR = 1.73) and alcohol consumption (OR = 2.26), 6 hours or less of sleep (OR = 3.73), obesity among family members (OR = 1.86 for mother; OR = 2.98 for siblings), parental history of diabetes mellitus (OR = 2.22 for father; OR = 2.70 for mother), and eating at inexpensive local food stalls (OR = 1.82). Our study found that a number of factors, ranging from personal and family backgrounds to lifestyle choices, were significantly associated with obesity among male youths.

Prevalence and Predictors of Overweight and Obesity among Military Personnel with Low Socio-Economic Status in Kuala Lumpur

“…Family history of obesity was another predictor of overweight and obesity in this study. study Shi et al (2014), found the same nding, in which the odds of being overweight and obesity were higher in the respondents with history of having obese sibling and obese mother (p < 0.001) as compared to those with no family history [7] . Family history is a complex factor with underlying genetic predisposition, which re ects the effect of shared genetics and environment among close relatives [42] .…”

“…In military institutions worldwide, sociodemographic factors [5,6] , family history of obesity [7] , lifestyle factors such as diet intake [8] , physical activity [9] , sleep quality [10] , stress factor [11] and readiness to change factor [12] are often associated with overweight and obesity. However, in the military organization in Malaysia, previous studies only reported the relationship between socio-demographic to overweight and obesity [4] , rendering the relationship with other factors left unknown.…”

Association between the PSMB5 and PSMC6 genetic variations and children obesity in the Latvian population

“…The family background was found to be an obesity risk factor (OR = 1.86 for mother; OR = 2.98 for sib-lings) among Chinese male youths [12]. A significant difference (p < 0.01) was observed between the subjects having the obesity family history and non-obese controls in rs2348071 heterozygous genotype frequencies at the PSMA3 locus [6].…”

Overweight and Obesity Among The Army Personnel with Low Socio-Economic Status In Kuala Lumpur: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…In military institutions worldwide, sociodemographic factors [5,6], family history of obesity [7], lifestyle factors such as diet intake [8], physical activity [9], sleep quality [10], stress factor [11] and readiness to change factor [12] are often associated with overweight and obesity. However, in the military organization in Malaysia, previous studies only reported the relationship between socio-demographic to overweight and obesity [4], rendering the relationship with other factors left unknown.…”