Christine Bazelmans

Is obesity associated with injuries among young people

Objectives: To look at the relationship between obesity and trauma among young people in the Hainaut Province in Belgium. Design: A cross-sectional study (questionnaire and physical examination) was conduced among a sample of 2363 children of 9- to 17-year-olds (n = 2363) in 1998. Results: In the past 12 months prior to the survey, 37% of the sample had at least one injury requiring treatment (with or without hospitalization), and 5% had a severe injury (with at least one night at the hospital). More than 15% were classified to be obese according to the WHO definition. We observed a significantly higher frequency of injury in obese people, in boys, in subjects playing sport intensively, with members of a sports club and in those reporting more than one physical activity per week. In multivariate analysis for injury, gender, physical activity, playing sport in a club and obesity were significant. For severe injuries, only gender and physical activity remained significant in the multivariate analysis. Conclusion: Our analysis shows that childhood obesity and physical activity increase the occurrence of injuries. However, we did not observe an association between obesity and severe injuries. Obesity as a risk factor for the occurrence of injuries has to be confirmed by other studies, and the understanding of the mechanism for the observed association needs more investigation.

Predictors of misreporting in an elderly population: the 'Quality of life after 65' study

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the prevalence and identify some predictors of misreporting in an elderly Belgian population and to assess the effect of underreporting on estimated intakes of macronutrients and foods. DESIGN A 1-day food record was completed by 2083 adult men and women aged 65 years or more. Individuals whose energy intake was lower than 0.90 x BMR (basal metabolic rate) were defined as underreporters. Overreporting was defined as energy intake greater than 2 x BMR. RESULTS Underreporting and overreporting occurred in 13.6% and 7.9% of food records, respectively. Results from logistic regression models indicated that gender and body mass index (BMI) were predictors of misreporting. Whereas women were more likely to underreport energy intake, the prevalence of overreporting was higher in men. Underreporting was more prevalent among obese people and overreporting more prevalent in normal-weight subjects. Smoking status and education level did not predict underreporting; however, overreporting was more likely to occur in more highly educated subjects. A cultural difference in reporting of nutrient intakes was also found, with the percentage of underreporters being higher among Walloons compared with Flemish. CONCLUSION BMI seemed to be one of the most important factors in misreporting. This calls for special attention when dietary surveys are performed on obese or lean people.

Application de l’approche globale de l’alimentation dans la population belge

Introduction Depuis quelques annees, la prise en compte de l’alimentation sous forme de profils de consommation s’est developpee comme une approche complementaire en epidemiologie nutritionnelle. Objectif Le present article a pour objectif de presenter et d’appliquer deux methodes de construction de profils alimentaires a partir des donnees issues de la « Belgian Interuniversity Research on Nutrition and Health » (BIRNH). Methodes Une etude prospective a ete menee (1979-1984) aupres de 5 225 hommes et 4 476 femmes de la population belge âges de 25 a 74 ans. Les habitudes alimentaires de chaque participant ont ete etablies par la methode d’un enregistrement de 24 heures et complete pour un sous-echantillon de 1 650 personnes par un enregistrement de 7 jours. L’approche « a priori » a ete utilisee pour la construction d’un index d’alimentation recommandee (IAR) base sur les recommandations nutritionnelles nationales. Une analyse en composantes principales a ete effectuee sur la base, d’une part, des donnees issues de l’enregistrement de 24 heures et, d’autre part, sur celles issues de l’enregistrement de 7 jours. Resultats L’index moyen (SD) de notre echantillon est de 3,7 (± 1,2). Plus l’IAR est eleve, plus l’alimentation est conforme aux recommandations. Les femmes ont un IAR moyen statistiquement plus eleve que les hommes, puisqu’il est respectivement de 3,9 et 3,6 (p Conclusion L’approche globale de l’alimentation permet une meilleure evaluation des habitudes alimentaires. Il est donc important de disposer d’outils qui permettent une estimation plus precise des habitudes alimentaires. D’autres etudes devraient s’interesser a l’analyse de la capacite discriminante de ces profils alimentaires par rapport a un probleme de sante et/ou a la mortalite dans le contexte belge.