common theme in public health/preventative medicine right now.
Preventive medicine refers to measures taken to prevent diseases,
rather than curing them or treating their symptoms in individuals.
Public methods work at the level of population health rather than
individual health. Regarding obesity the focus of both groups tends to
be behavioral methods such as eating a healthy diet and exercise.
Open Epidemiol J. 2011;4:140-146.
Selected Health Conditions Among Overweight, Obese, and Non-Obese
Veterans of the 1991 Gulf War: Results from a Survey Conducted in
2003-2005.
Coughlin SS, Kang HK, Mahan CM.
Environmental Epidemiology Service (135), Office of Public Health and
Environmental Hazards, Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont
Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20420, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Several health conditions and concerns have been reported to be
increased among Gulf War veterans including post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), CFS-like illness, and
unexplained multi-symptom illness (MSI). As the cohort of Gulf War
veterans advance in age, they are likely to be at risk of not only
certain deployment-related health conditions but also chronic diseases
associated with lifestyle factors.
METHODS:
To clarify relationships between PTSD, CFS-like illness, MSI, and
obesity, we analyzed data from a cross-sectional survey of health
information among population-based samples of 15,000 Gulf War veterans
and 15,000 veterans who served during the same era. Data had been
collected from 9,970 respondents in 2003-2005 via a structured
questionnaire or telephone survey.
RESULTS:
Based upon body mass index (BMI) estimated from self-reported
information about height and weight, the percentages of Gulf War and
Gulf Era veterans who were overweight (BMI 25 to =E2=89=A4 29.9), were 46.8=
%
and 48.7%, respectively. The percentages who were obese (BMI =E2=89=A5 30)
were 29.6% and 28.3%, respectively. Without adjustment for Gulf
deployment status (Gulf War vs Gulf Era), age, sex, or other factors,
PTSD, MSI, CFS-like illness, and other chronic health conditions were
more common among obese veterans than those who were normal weight
(BMI 18.5 to =E2=89=A4 24.9). In multivariate analyses, PTSD was positively
associated with obesity after adjustment for age, sex, Gulf deployment
status, rank, income, education, and current smoking. In the model for
PTSD, the adjusted odds ratio for obesity was 1.5 (95% CI 1.2-1.8). No
associations were observed between BMI categories and CFS-like illness
or MSI in multivariate analysis.
CONCLUSIONS:
Gulf War and Gulf Era veterans who were obese were more likely to have
certain chronic health conditions including PTSD. Associations between
Gulf status and CFS-like illness and MSI identified in the 2003-2005
follow-up survey were not accounted for by group differences in the
prevalence of overweight or obesity.
PMID: 21731594 [PubMed]
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