Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015:2:44-46.
doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2014.12.005.

Weighing frequency among working adults: cross-sectional analysis of two community samples

Kara L Gavin  1 , Jennifer A Linde  1 , Carly R Pacanowski  1 , Simone A French  1 , Robert W Jeffery  1 , Yen-Yi Ho  2
Affiliations

Weighing frequency among working adults: cross-sectional analysis of two community samples

Kara L Gavin et al. Prev Med Rep. 2015.

Abstract

Objective: Self-weighing frequency is associated with lower body weight and less weight gain. This study describes self-weighing frequency in two samples of working adults from different fields: office-based and transit employees.

Methods: Self-weighing frequency and demographic information were self-reported at baseline measurement of two worksite interventions. Data were collected from transit employees (n= 1479) enrolled in a worksite intervention between October and December of 2005 and office based employees (n=1747) in another worksite intervention between January 2006 and April 2007 in the Minneapolis, MN and St. Paul, MN metropolitan area. Trained staff measured height and weight. Multinomial logistic regression models examined associations between self-weighing frequency and body mass index, study sample, and gender adjusting for age, race, and education.

Results: Odds ratios showed self-weighing frequency was significantly different between overweight and obese categories and between study samples. Office-based employees self-weighed more frequently than transit employees. Overweight employees self-weighed more frequently than obese employees.

Conclusion: While self-weighing outcomes and associations with obesity prevention and weight loss are still under investigation, these results may help in improving obesity intervention planning and informing worksite weight management programs by identifying how often working adults naturally engage in this behavior prior to weight loss interventions.

Keywords: body mass index; obesity; self-weighing; working adults.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Butryn M.L., Phelan S., Hill J.O., Wing R.R. Consistent self-monitoring of weight: a key component of successful weight loss maintenance. Obesity. 2007;15:3091–3096. - PubMed
    1. Cairnes J.M., Bambra C., Hillier-Brown F.C., Moore H.J., Summerbell C.D. Weighing up the evidence: a systematic review of the effectiveness of workplace interventions to tackle socio-economic inequalities in obesity. J. Public Health Oxf. 2014 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Colditz G.A. Economic costs of obesity. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1992;55:503S–507S. - PubMed
    1. Flegal K.M., Kit B.K., Orpana H., Graubard B.I. Association of all-cause mortality with overweight and obesity using standard body mass index categories: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA. 2013;309:71–82. - PMC - PubMed
    1. French S.A., Harnack L.J., Hannan P.J., Mitchell N.R., Gerlach A.F., Toomey T.L. Worksite environment intervention to prevent obesity among metropolitan transit workers. Prev. Med. 2010;50:180–185. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources