HHS Secretary and Surgeon General Join First Lady to Announce Plans to Combat Overweight and Obesity and Support Healthy Choices

Overweight and obesity have become a prominent concern for policymakers, the Surgeon General, scholars, and for work organizations. The estimated annual cost of obesity in terms of lost productivity is in the tens of billions of dollars, and the estimated annual medical cost of obesity is in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Psychologists have become increasingly interested in issues related to body weight, such as ways to help people reduce body weight. The aims of our study are twofold. First, based on social cognitive theory, we offer the first study of the relationship between general self-efficacy (GSE) and body weight based on a large, representative sample. Second, we also offer an understanding of the role of race and gender as potential boundary conditions of this relationship. Findings indicate that race moderates the relationship between GSE and body weight (both BMI and perceived weight) such that this relationship is positive for Blacks but negative for Whites. Gender did not moderate the relationship between GSE and body weight. These results suggest that body weight is unrelated to general self-efficacy in the population writ large and that body weight is differentially related to self-efficacy based on race but not gender.

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Preventive medicine and hygiene By , Professor of Preventive Medicine and Hygiene, Harvard University; Director of the School for Health Officers of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. With Chapters upon Sewage and Garbage, by , Professor of Sanitary Engineering, Harvard University; Vital Statistics, by , Assistant Surgeon-General, U. S. Public Health Service; , by , Medical Director, National Committee for Mental Hygiene. Second Edition, Thoroughly Revised. Large octavo; 1209 +76 pages. New York and London: , 1916

The American Journal of Surgery ◽

10.1016/s0002-9610(17)90066-2 ◽

1917 ◽

Vol 31 (3) ◽

pp. 95

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Preventive Medicine ◽

Mental Hygiene ◽

Public Health Service ◽

Vital Statistics ◽

Harvard University ◽

National Committee ◽

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology ◽

Surgeon General ◽

Institute Of Technology

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From the Surgeon General

Public Health Reports ◽

10.1016/s0033-3549(04)50028-6 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 116 (1) ◽

pp. 72-73 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

David S. Satcher

Keyword(s):

Surgeon General

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Breakfast Skipping Is an Independent Predictor of Obesity but not Overweight Among Children in a Southeastern European Population

International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research ◽

10.1024/0300-9831/a000272 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 86 (5-6) ◽

pp. 242-248 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Genc Burazeri ◽

Jolanda Hyska ◽

Iris Mone ◽

Enver Roshi

Keyword(s):

Task Force ◽

Demographic Data ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

European Population ◽

Overweight And Obesity ◽

World Health ◽

Communist Country ◽

Western Balkans ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Breakfast Skipping

Abstract.Aim: To assess the association of breakfast skipping with overweight and obesity among children in Albania, a post-communist country in the Western Balkans, which is undergoing a long and difficult political and socioeconomic transition towards a market-oriented economy. Methods: A nationwide cross-sectional study was carried out in Albania in 2013 including a representative sample of 5810 children aged 7.0 – 9.9 years (49.5% girls aged 8.4 ± 0.6 years and 51.5% boys aged 8.5 ± 0.6 years; overall response rate: 97%). Children were measured for height and weight, and body mass index (BMI) calculated. Cut-off BMI values of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) were used to define overweight and obesity in children. Demographic data were also collected. Results: Upon adjustment for age, sex, and place of residence, breakfast skipping was positively related to obesity (WHO criteria: OR = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.3–1.9; IOTF criteria: OR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.4–2.5), but not overweight (OR = 1.1, 95% CI = 0.9–1.3 and OR = 1.1, 95% CI = 0.9–1.4, respectively). Furthermore, breakfast skipping was associated with a higher BMI (multivariable-adjusted OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 1.02–1.07). Conclusions: Our findings point to a strong and consistent positive relationship between breakfast skipping and obesity, but not overweight, among children in this transitional southeastern European population. Future studies in Albania and other transitional settings should prospectively examine the causal role of breakfast skipping in the development of overweight and obesity.

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