Table 1.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of the study population
| Underweight N = 124 | Healthy weight N = 3,073 | Overweight N = 3,039 | Obese N = 1,923 | Morbidly obese N = 1,974 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age* (N = 10,118) | 39.1 (30.1–61.3) | 44.9 (31.5–61.3) | 55.5 (40.9–66.1) | 54.7 (42.9–64.5) | 51.3 (40.1–60.5) |
| Gender* (N = 10,099) | |||||
| Male | 12.2% (15) | 19.0% (584) | 38.3% (1,160) | 33.1% (634) | 23.4% (460) |
| Female | 87.8% (108) | 81.0% (2,483) | 61.7% (1,868) | 66.9% (1,281) | 76.6% (1,506) |
| Race/ethnicity* (N = 9,959) | |||||
| White, non‐Hispanic | 82.1% (101) | 88.0% (2,657) | 86.3% (2,580) | 80.9% (1,521) | 77.9% (1,516) |
| Black, non‐Hispanic | 4.9% (6) | 5.1% (153) | 8.4% (250) | 13.8% (259) | 18.8% (365) |
| Hispanic | 3.3% (4) | 2.1% (63) | 2.0% (60) | 1.9% (36) | 1.4% (27) |
| Other, non‐Hispanic | 9.8% (12) | 4.9% (148) | 3.3% (98) | 3.5% (65) | 2.0% (38) |
| Annual income* (N = 9,213) | |||||
| less than $10,000 | 2.0% (2) | 3.4% (94) | 2.2% (62) | 4.2% (73) | 4.7% (86) |
| $10,000 to $19,999 | 1.0% (1) | 4.6% (126) | 5.1% (142) | 6.5% (114) | 8.6% (158) |
| $20,000 to $34,999 | 15.8% (16) | 11.4% (314) | 12.5% (347) | 12.8% (224) | 17.8% (326) |
| $35,000 to $49,999 | 11.9% (12) | 12.3% (338) | 14.2% (394) | 15.2% (266) | 18.0% (330) |
| $50,000 to $74,999 | 17.8% (18) | 20.6% (567) | 21.5% (598) | 22.5% (393) | 22.0% (403) |
| $75,000 to $99,999 | 20.8% (21) | 16.0% (440) | 18.1% (502) | 16.1% (282) | 13.9% (255) |
| $100,000 or more | 30.7% (31) | 31.7% (873) | 26.4% (732) | 22.7% (398) | 15.0% (275) |
| Highest level of education* (N = 10,073) | |||||
| Less than HS degree | 2.5% (3) | 1.2% (38) | 1.7% (50) | 1.8% (34) | 2.3% (44) |
| HS graduate or GED | 13.1% (16) | 8.4% (257) | 12.8% (386) | 14.2% (271) | 17.3% (338) |
| Some college or 2‐year degree | 20.5% (25) | 22.2% (678) | 29.6% (894) | 33.4% (639) | 36.5% (714) |
| College degree | 25.4% (31) | 31.0% (948) | 25.7% (776) | 23.8% (455) | 23.2% (453) |
| More than college degree | 38.5% (47) | 37.2% (1,138) | 30.4% (918) | 26.9% (514) | 20.8% (406) |
| Employment status* (N = 10,120) | |||||
| Unemployed/homemaker/stay at home | 25.2% (31) | 17.5% (536) | 9.1% (277) | 7.4% (143) | 8.9% (176) |
| Caregiver/full‐time student | |||||
| Unable to work (disabled) | 13.0% (16) | 5.1% (155) | 7.0% (212) | 9.0% (173) | 14.1% (278) |
| Retired | 15.4% (19) | 16.6% (509) | 24.6% (748) | 22.5% (433) | 13.7% (270) |
| Employed (full‐time, part‐time or self‐employed) | 46.3% (57) | 60.9% (1,869) | 59.2% (1,798) | 61.0% (1,173) | 63.3% (1,247) |
| Marital status* (N = 10,074) | |||||
| Never married | 26.4% (32) | 18.4% (563) | 10.2% (309) | 9.2% (176) | 15.0% (294) |
| Divorced/separated | 8.3% (10) | 8.9% (273) | 11.1% (336) | 14.2% (271) | 15.9% (312) |
| Widowed | 3.3% (4) | 4.0% (123) | 4.4% (134) | 4.0% (76) | 4.3% (84) |
| Married/living with partner | 62.0% (75) | 68.6% (2,098) | 74.2% (2,245) | 72.6% (1,388) | 64.8% (1,271) |
| Number of children <19 years living in household** (N = 10,020) | |||||
| 0 | 70.7% (87) | 68.2% (2,076) | 70.4% (2,115) | 69.6% (1,323) | 65.2% (1,271) |
| 1 | 11.4% (14) | 14.6% (443) | 13.7% (411) | 14.4% (273) | 17.9% (350) |
| 2 | 11.4% (14) | 11.9% (363) | 10.5% (315) | 11.5% (218) | 11.6% (226) |
| 3 | 4.1% (5) | 4.0% (123) | 3.6% (108) | 3.3% (63) | 3.8% (74) |
| 4 | 1.6% (2) | 0.9% (28) | 1.3% (40) | 0.8% (16) | 1.2% (24) |
| 5 or more | 0.8% (1) | 0.3% (9) | 0.5% (14) | 0.5% (9) | 0.3% (5) |
| Current smoking status** (N = 9,898) | |||||
| No | 87.5% (105) | 92.4% (2,773) | 90.4% (2,674) | 90.1% (1,694) | 90.1% (1,748) |
| Yes | 12.5% (15) | 7.6% (228) | 9.6% (283) | 9.9% (186) | 9.9% (192) |
| Physical activity* (N = 10,118) | |||||
| I am very inactive | 8.9% (11) | 7.8% (238) | 10.2% (309) | 13.0% (249) | 22.7% (448) |
| I am active a couple times a month | 10.5% (13) | 10.1% (309) | 13.3% (404) | 17.9% (343) | 24.4% (481) |
| I am active most weeks | 18.5% (23) | 16.9% (520) | 18.5% (562) | 22.0% (423) | 20.0% (394) |
| I am active several days a week | 24.2% (30) | 26.2% (805) | 26.0% (788) | 23.4% (449) | 18.6% (367) |
| I am active most days | 37.9% (47) | 39.0% (1,196) | 32.0% (972) | 23.8% (456) | 14.3% (281) |
| Diet quality* (N = 10,115) | |||||
| Poor | 2.4% (3) | 0.9% (28) | 1.9% (59) | 3.9% (75) | 9.1% (179) |
| Fair | 14.5% (18) | 8.2% (250) | 14.6% (443) | 24.2% (464) | 33.9% (668) |
| Good | 27.4% (34) | 32.6% (1,000) | 43.1% (1,309) | 45.8% (880) | 42.7% (842) |
| Very good | 37.9% (47) | 42.8% (1,311) | 32.6% (989) | 21.7% (417) | 12.8% (252) |
| Excellent | 17.7% (22) | 15.5% (476) | 7.8% (236) | 4.4% (84) | 1.5% (29) |
| High blood pressure* (N = 10,010) | |||||
| No | 84.2% (101) | 78.5% (2,387) | 57.7% (1,733) | 45.9% (872) | 38.7% (753) |
| Yes | 15.8% (19) | 21.5% (652) | 42.3% (1,270) | 54.1% (1,029) | 61.3% (1,194) |
| High cholesterol* (N = 9,953) | |||||
| No | 77.0% (94) | 73.7% (2,227) | 52.4% (1,564) | 46.8% (885) | 51.0% (986) |
| Yes | 23.0% (28) | 26.3% (795) | 47.6% (1,421) | 53.2% (1,005) | 49.0% (948) |
| Diabetes mellitus type I or II* (N = 10,073) | |||||
| No | 96.0% (119) | 92.9% (2,839) | 84.0% (2,542) | 71.6% (1,367) | 62.1% (1,217) |
| Yes | 2.4% (3) | 5.0% (154) | 11.9% (361) | 19.7% (377) | 26.8% (525) |
| Pre‐diabetes or borderline diabetes | 1.6% (2) | 2.0% (62) | 4.0% (122) | 8.7% (166) | 11.1% (217) |
| Spirituality* (N = 9,835) | |||||
| Very | 40.5% (49) | 43.2% (1,281) | 47.2% (1,402) | 48.6% (908) | 49.4% (941) |
| Fairly | 26.4% (32) | 29.4% (874) | 31.8% (946) | 33.3% (622) | 33.1% (631) |
| Slightly | 16.5% (20) | 15.9% (472) | 13.9% (413) | 12.6% (235) | 11.8% (224) |
| Not at all | 16.5% (20) | 11.5% (341) | 7.1% (212) | 5.5% (103) | 5.7% (109) |
Demographic characteristics, psychosocial variables and comorbid illness stratified by obesity status among the 10,133 survey respondents included in the analytic sample.
*
p < 0.001.
**
p < 0.05.
GED, general educational development; HS, high school.