Is abdominal obesity at baseline influencing weight changes in observational studies and during weight loss interventions?

Is level of anxiety associated with overweight and obesity risk in university students? The NUTSAU Study

Introduction

Introduction: effective ways of overcoming overweight may depend, in part, on the ability to identify mood disorders (anxiety is most prevalent) and their association with overeating and weight gain. The use of anthropometric indicators for such purposes can inform individual strategies for intervention before obesity sets in. Objective: to verify the association between anxiety and anthropometric indicators in university students. Methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted in 147 undergraduates across all programmes taught by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) at Macaé. A self-assessment questionnaire was administered in order to gather socioeconomic, lifestyle, and anxiety data. Anxiety status was estimated based on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and interpreted based on the median of scores (p ≥ 50). An anthropometric assessment was conducted to measure the subjects' body mass, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference (WC). Body fat percentage (%BF) data were obtained using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). The data were then analyzed using the chi-square and logistic regression tests, with a 0.05 significance level. For analysis purposes, anxiety was defined as the exposure variable in the present study, and anthropometric indicators as the outcomes. Results: the students with an anxiety state p ≥ 50 presented an odds ratio (OR) of 2.69 for being overweight (p = 0.02), as well as an OR of 2.77 for having high BF (p = 0.02) in the adjusted models. Conclusion: a higher level of anxiety is associated with anthropometric indicators among university students, specifically for overweight or obesity and high BF percentages.

Onset of Workplace Bullying and Risk of Weight Gain: A Multicohort Longitudinal Study

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to examine the onset of workplace bullying as a risk factor for BMI increase.

METHODS

Repeated biennial survey data from three Nordic cohort studies were used, totaling 46,148 participants (67,337 participant observations) aged between 18 and 65 who did not have obesity and who were not bullied at the baseline. Multinomial logistic regression was applied for the analysis under the framework of generalized estimating equations.

RESULTS

Five percent reported onset of workplace bullying within 2 years from the baseline. In confounder-adjusted models, onset of workplace bullying was associated with a higher risk of weight gain of ≥ 1 BMI unit (odds ratio = 1.09; 95% CI: 1.01-1.19) and of ≥ 2.5 BMI units (odds ratio = 1.24; 95% CI: 1.06-1.45). A dose-response pattern was observed, and those exposed to workplace bullying more frequently showed a higher risk (P_trend  = 0.04). The association was robust to adjustments, restrictions, stratifications, and use of relative/absolute scales for BMI change.

CONCLUSIONS

Participants with exposure to the onset of workplace bullying were more likely to gain weight, a possible pathway linking workplace bullying to increased long-term risk of type 2 diabetes.