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. 2016 Oct;22(4):367-382.
doi: 10.1177/1078345816670161.

Childhood Adversity and Mental Health Correlates of Obesity in a Population at Risk

Kathleen Brewer-Smyth  1 , Monica Cornelius  2 , Ryan T Pohlig  3
Affiliations

Childhood Adversity and Mental Health Correlates of Obesity in a Population at Risk

Kathleen Brewer-Smyth et al. J Correct Health Care. 2016 Oct.

Abstract

The staggering prevalence of obesity and obesity-related health conditions takes exorbitant tolls on health care resources. This cross-sectional study with private evaluations of 636 adult inmates in a southern state prison was conducted with regressions comparing obese (body mass index [BMI] ≥ 30) to nonobese individuals to define obesity risk factors. Obese individuals more likely were female, were victims of childhood sexual abuse, suffered greater severity of childhood sexual abuse, attempted suicide, reported drug dependency, were non-Caucasian, and were older than nonobese. Psychopathy predicted lower BMI. Though obesity might be expected in victims of childhood physical abuse, traumatic brain injury, or other mental health conditions due to mobility or decision-making deficits, neither were significant. Adjusting for related variables, childhood sexual abuse remained significant. Females attempted suicide more frequently and suffered greater childhood sexual abuse.

Keywords: BMI; TBI; child abuse; childhood sexual abuse; obesity; suicide attempts.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors disclosed no conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, or publication of this article. For information about JCHC’s disclosure policy, please see the Self-Study Program.

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