Prevalence & Obesity
Health Psychology
Prevalence Rates + Health
One of the great questions of health psychology is why we see an increase or
decrease in the level of a health problem.
There is also the question of why some groups seem to have a higher
prevalence of a health problem than other groups.
Finally, there is the question of the role that "globalization" is playing in the
spread of health problems - for example, the spread of the fast food
industry.
Essential Questions
● What are the difficulties in measuring the prevalence
of a health problem?
● What factors may play a role in the increase or
decrease of a health problem?
WHY DO HEALTH BEHAVIOURS CHANGE OVER TIME?
When we discuss how common a problem is, we refer to its prevalence.
● Prevalence signifies what proportion of a certain population engages in
a certain behavior.
The current prevalence of smoking in the United States of America is 15.1% while
for obesity it is 36.5% (CDC, 2016).
However, prevalence is not a stable variable; it changes over time and there
are various factors that influence it.
DEFINITIONS
Prevalence is usually expressed as a percentage (5%, or 5 people out of 100), or as the
number of cases per 10,000 or 100,000 people, depending on how common the illness or
risk factor is in the population.
There are several ways to measure and report the prevalence, which vary according to the
timeframe for the estimate:
● Point prevalence is the proportion of a population that has the characteristic at a
specific point in time.
● Period prevalence is the proportion of a population that has the characteristic at
any point during a given time period of interest. “Past 12 months” is a commonly
used timeframe.
● Lifetime prevalence is the proportion of a population who, at some point in life up
to the time of assessment, has ever had the characteristics
PREVALENCE OF OBESITY
The current prevalence of obesity (2016) in the
United States of America is 36.5%, which is over
a third of the population. Historically, this was not
always the case. Throughout most of history,
obesity all around the world was rare and
manifested exclusively among the highest strata
of society as the majority of the population
struggled to get enough to eat. During medieval
times, obesity was seen as a sign of wealth and
was socially valued.
Yet after the industrial revolution, when production
became mechanized, work became more
sedentary, and society richer; obesity rates
started to grow.
PREVALENCE OF OBESITY
Today, obesity is no longer seen as a sign of prosperity but rather as a
disadvantage and even as a personal flaw.
Still, obesity rates continue to grow in most Western countries and in 2014,
around 600 million individuals (13% of the population) were obese according to
World Health Organization (2017).
This is most likely caused by the frequent consumption of calorie-dense
foods and a decrease in regular exercise due to urbanization, ways of
transport, and the nature of work (WHO, 2017).
RESEARCH IN OBESITY PREVALENCE
She, King, and Jacobson (2017) published a study that concentrated on the relationship
between public transport use and obesity.
● The authors gathered data on obesity from CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor
Surveillance System (BRFSS) 2009 surveys and for public transport usage data,
they utilized the 2009 National Household Travel survey data.
● The data they collected originated in 318 counties of 44 US states.
● They found that traveling by public transport was a good predictor of lower obesity
prevalence.
● This is probably the case because using public transport requires more exercise
than driving an automobile and thus is effective in reducing a sedentary lifestyle.
● This study is limited, as based on the methods used it cannot establish a causal
relationship; that is, we cannot conclude that using public transport actually
decreases obesity rates only that the more people travel by public transport, the
lower the prevalence of obesity.
FACTORS THAT MAY PLAY A ROLE IN INCREASING OBESITY RATES IN A POPULATION
● Restaurant Dining. Restaurant dining and fast-food restaurant dining, in particular, have been considered
major contributors to the obesity epidemic.
● Physical Education. Some argue that a reduction in the frequency of physical education (PE) is a major
contributor to obesity.
● Mandatory military service. Some argue that the end of compulsory military service has led to higher
rates of obesity in young men.
● Sidewalks and public transportation. Some have suggested that aspects of the ‘built environment”,
especially a lack of sidewalks or a lack of public transportation decrease walking which in turn increases
obesity.
● High-Fructose Corn Syrup Consumption (HFCS). HFCS consumption has increased substantially in the
last several decades and has been speculated to be a contributor to the obesity epidemic
● Vending Machines. Vending machines have been discussed as a threat to childhood overweight and
obesity and changes in school policy have been made to reflect this view.
Limitations of prevalence research
● Even if the prevalence of a health problem increases or decreases as a result of a
societal or environmental change, it is not possible to establish a cause-and-effect
relationship.
● The way that data is collected to calculate prevalence rates is problematic.
○ These problems include the reliance on self-reported data, operationalization of
variables (e.g. the limitations of BMI), and obtaining a valid sample with enough
participants.
● Comparing prevalence rates over time is problematic because there are so many
variables that could account for any difference over time.
