Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to evaluate the interaction between veteran status and race/ethnicity on obesity status.
Design
Cross-sectional survey
Setting
The 2013–2017 National Health Interview Survey
Sample
A total of 151,765 adults (8.62% veterans and 91.38 nonveterans) with 69.30% identifying as White, 13.05% identifying as Hispanic, 12.57% identifying as Black, and 5.08% identifying as Asian
Measures
Obesity status (measured using self-reported body mass index), race/ethnicity, survey year, age, marital status, educational attainment, federal poverty level, health insurance, type of insurance, self-reported health status, and whether participant had a usual care source.
Analysis
Weighted logistic regression analysis
Results
In a fully adjusted model, there was no evidence that veterans overall had higher odds of obesity compared to nonveterans (adjusted odd ratio (aOR): 1.05, 95% CI: .99, 1.11). White veterans had lower odds of obesity compared to White nonveterans (OR: .93, 95% CI: .87, .98). Hispanic veterans had higher odds of obesity compared to Hispanic nonveterans (aOR: 1.53, 95% CI: 1.23, 1.90). There was no evidence of an association between veteran status and obesity status for Black and Asian adults.
Conclusions
Effectual prevention strategies are needed to decrease obesity risks among active and retired Hispanic veterans.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
