Physician Weight Recommendations for Overweight and Obese Firefighters, United States, 2011–2012

Details

• Journal Article:
  Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD)
• Personal Author:
  Wilkinson, Michelle Lynn ; Brown, Austin Lane ; Poston, Walker Seward Carlos ; Haddock, Christopher Keith ; Jahnke, Sara Anne ; Day, Rena Sue
• Description:
  Introduction ; National guidelines state that health care professionals (HCPs) should advise patients on the importance of maintaining a healthy weight. Firefighters have high rates of obesity, and cardiovascular events are the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths in firefighters. This study assessed the association of age and body mass index (BMI) with HCP weight recommendations among male firefighters. ; Methods ; We used data on self-reported HCP weight recommendations and measured BMI from a 2011–2012 national sample of male firefighters (N = 1,002). HCP recommendations were recorded as no advice, maintain, gain, or lose weight, and BMI was categorized as normal (<25.0 kg/m2), overweight (25.0–29.9 kg/m2), class I obese (30.0–34.9 kg/m2), and class II or III obese (≥35.0 kg/m2). We used multinomial logistic regression to estimate the odds of receiving weight advice by age and BMI categories. ; Results ; Most firefighters (96%) reported visiting an HCP in the past year. Most (69%) firefighters and 48% of class I to III obese firefighters reported receiving no weight advice. Higher BMI predicted HCP advice to lose weight (odds ratio class I obese vs normal weight: 12.98; 95% confidence interval: 5.38–31.34). Younger firefighters were less likely to receive weight loss advice than older firefighters, except among those who were class II or III obese. ; Conclusions ; HCPs are important sources of health information for firefighters. Overweight and obese firefighters, particularly those who are younger, do not consistently receive HCP advice to lose weight. This marks a missed opportunity to prevent further weight gain and reduce obesity-related health outcomes.
• Subjects:
  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Alcohol Drinking
  • Body Mass Index
  • Cardiovascular Diseases
  • Cohort Studies
  • Comorbidity
  • Counseling
  • Firefighters/psychology
  • Humans
  More +
• Source:
  Prev Chronic Dis. 11.
• ISSN:
  1545-1151
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Volume:
  11
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/24403/cdc_24403_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 516.83 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Preventing Chronic Disease
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:88f1305cbcc8b4e0c84b6bffb60f146e727a0d9a1840e45b1b390028eed250832eea622a509f497d8d008fd201dace3a2ce2caf24e7efa513cd2e9945626fbb7