Prevalence of obesity and correlates of body mass index among hispanics living in a new settlement area: Implications for intervention development

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions worldwide. In 2006, the World Health Organization estimated that by 2015, about 2.3 billion adults will be overweight and more than 700 million will be obese. The objectives of this study were to examine the prevalence and correlates of obesity among a sample of Hispanics living in a new settlement area in the United States (US), determine correlates of body mass index (BMI) and examine associations between participants' region of origin on obesity prevalence. This study is an exploratory cross-sectional analysis. Data for the analysis were collected from 303 Hispanic adults living in thesoutheastern US over a nine-month period. Results showed that obesity prevalence increase with length of residency in the US, obesity prevalence was higher among women than men. Significant differences in BMI were observed by region of origin among women. Region of origin was a strong predictor of BMI among women; age was the only significant predictor among men. Findings suggest the need for weight-reduction interventions to be targeted to specific subgroups of Hispanics; factors that should be considered are country of origin, level of acculturationandsocioeconomic and cultural characteristics.