Prevalence of overweight and obesity among migrants in Switzerland: association with country of origin

Abstract Objective Migrants tend to present higher overweight and obesity levels, but whether this relationship applies to all nationalities has seldom been studied. The present study aimed to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity according to nationality in adults. Design Cross-sectional population-based samples. Setting Five-year nationwide interview surveys (Swiss Health Surveys - SHS) from 1992 to 2007 (n 63 766) and a local examination survey (CoLaus Study in Lausanne 2004-2006, n 6743). Subjects Participants were separated into Swiss, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish nationals, those from the former Republic of Yugoslavia and from other European and other countries. Results Compared with Swiss nationals, German and French nationals presented a lower prevalence of overweight and obesity, whereas nationals from Italy, Spain, Portugal and the former Republic of Yugoslavia presented higher levels. Adjusting the SHS data for age, gender, education, smoking, leisure-time physical activity and survey year, a lower risk for overweight and obesity was found for German (OR = 0·80, 95 % CI 0·70, 0·92) and French (OR = 0·74, 95 % CI 0·61, 0·89) nationals, whereas higher risks were found for participants from Italy (OR = 1·45, 95 % CI 1·33, 1·58), Spain (OR = 1·36, 95 % CI 1·15, 1·61), Portugal (OR = 1·25, 95 % CI 1·06, 1·47) and the former Republic of Yugoslavia (OR = 1·98, 95 % CI 1·69, 2·32). Similar findings were observed in the CoLaus Study for Italian (OR = 1·63, 95 % CI 1·29, 2·06), Spanish (OR = 1·54, 95 % CI 1·17, 2·04) and Portuguese (OR = 1·49, 95 % CI 1·16, 1·91) participants and for those from the former Republic of Yugoslavia (OR = 5·34, 95 % CI 3·00, 9·50). Conclusions Overweight and obesity are unevenly distributed among migrants in Switzerland. Migrants from Southern Europe and from the former Republic of Yugoslavia present higher prevalence rates. This suggests that preventive messages should be tailored to these specific population

The prevalence and management of cardiovascular risk factors in immigrant groups in Switzerland

Objectives: To compare the prevalence and management of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) between immigrant groups and Swiss nationals. Methods: The Swiss Health Surveys (SHS, N=49,245) and CoLaus study (N=6,710) were used. Immigrant groups from France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, former Yugoslavia, other European and other countries were defined. Results: Immigrants from Italy, France, Portugal, Spain and former Yugoslavia presented a higher prevalence of smoking than Swiss nationals. Immigrants reported less hypertension than Swiss nationals, but the differences were reduced when blood pressure measurements were used. The prevalence of dyslipidaemia was similar between immigrants and Swiss nationals in the SHS. When eligibility for statin treatment was assessed, immigrants from Italy were more frequently eligible than Swiss nationals. Immigrants from former Yugoslavia presented a lower prevalence of diabetes in the SHS, but a higher prevalence in the CoLaus study. Most differences between immigrant groups and Swiss nationals disappeared after adjusting for age, leisure-time physical activity, being overweight/obesity and education. Conclusions: Most CVRFs are unevenly distributed among immigrant groups in Switzerland, but these differences are due to disparities in age, leisure-time physical activity, being overweight/obesity and educatio

Socio-demographic and behavioural determinants of weight gain in the Swiss population

© 2015 Guerra et al.; licensee BioMed Central. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0),which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Background: In Switzerland, socio-demographic and behavioural factors are associated with obesity, but no study ever assessed their impact on weight gain using prospective data. Methods: Data from 4,469 participants (53.0% women), aged 35 to 75 years at baseline and followed for 5.5 years. Weight gain was considered as a rate (kg/year) or as gaining ≥5 kg during the study period. Results: Rate of weight gain was lower among participants who were older (mean ± standard deviation: 0.46 ± 0.92, 0.33 ± 0.88, 0.21 ± 0.86 and 0.06 ± 0.74 kg/year in participants aged [35-45], [45-55], [55–65] and [65+] years, respectively, P<0.001); physically active (0.27 ± 0.82 vs. 0.35 ± 0.95 kg/year for sedentary, P < 0.005) or living in couple (0.29 ± 0.84 vs. 0.35 ± 0.96 kg/year for living single, P < 0.05), and higher among current smokers (0.41 ± 0.97, 0.26 ± 0.84 and 0.29±0.85 kg/year for current, former and never smokers, respectively, p<0.001). These findings were further confirmed by multivariable analysis. Multivariable logistic regression showed that receiving social help, being a current smoker or obese increased the likelihood of gaining ≥5 Kg: Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.43 (1.16-1.77); 1.63 (1.35-1.95) and 1.95 (1.57-2.43), respectively, while living in couple or being physically active decreased the risk: 0.73 (0.62-0.86) and 0.72 (0.62-0.83), respectively. No association was found between weight gain and gender, being born in Switzerland or education. Conclusions: In Switzerland, financial difficulties (indicated by receiving social help) and current smoking were associated with increases in body weight over a 5 years follow-up. Living in couple, being older or physically active were protective against weight gain.The CoLaus study was supported by grants from the Swiss National Science Foundation [grant no: 33CSCO-122661 and FN 33CSC0-139468]; GlaxoSmithKline and the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of Lausanne, Switzerland. FG was supported by a Scientific Mobility Grant from the Lisbon Faculty of Medicine/Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. SS is supported by an Ambizione Grant. (n° PZ00P3_147998) from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)

Sex difference and the role of leptin in the association between high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and adiposity in two different populations

Elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) concentration is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease but this association seems to be largely mediated via conventional cardiovascular risk factors. In particular, the association between hs-CRP and obesity has been extensively demonstrated and correlations are stronger in women than men. We used fractional polynomials—a method that allows flexible modeling of non linear relations—to investigate the dose/response mathematical relationship between hs-CRP and several indicators of adiposity in Caucasians (Switzerland) and Africans (Seychelles) surveyed in two population-based studies. This relationship was non-linear exhibiting a steeper slope for low levels of hs-CRP and a higher level in women. The observed sex difference in the relationship between hs-CRP and adiposity almost disappeared upon adjustment for leptin, suggesting that these sex differences might be partially mediated, by leptin. All these relationship were similar in Caucasians and Africans. This is the first report on a non-linear relation, stratified by gender, between hs-CRP and adiposit

“Inflammaging” and bone in the OsteoLaus cohort

In this large population-based cohort, we did not find a relation between the coined concept of “inflammaging” (hs-CRP, IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α within the normal range) and bone parameters, measured in terms of prevalent and incident fractures, bone mass density and trabecular bone score

Physical activity and energy expenditure in rheumatoid arthritis patients and matched controls

Objectives. To compare daily energy expenditure between RA patients and matched controls, and to explore the relationship between daily energy expenditure or sedentariness and disease-related scores. Methods. One hundred and ten patients with RA and 440 age- and sex-matched controls were included in this study. Energy expenditure was assessed using the validated physical activity (PA) frequency questionnaire. Disease-related scores included disease activity (DAS-28), functional status (HAQ), pain visual analogue scale (VAS) and fatigue VAS. Total energy expenditure (TEE) and the amount of energy spent in low- (TEE-low), moderate- (TEE-mod) and high-intensity (TEE-high) PAs were calculated. Sedentariness was defined as expending <10% of TEE in TEE-mod or TEE-high activities. Between-group comparisons were computed using conditional logistic regression. The effect of disease-related scores on TEE was investigated using linear regression. Results. TEE was significantly lower for RA patients compared with controls [2392 kcal/day (95% CI 2295, 2490) and 2494 kcal/day (2446, 2543), respectively, P = 0.003]. A significant difference was found between groups in TEE-mod (P = 0.015), but not TEE-low (P = 0.242) and TEE-high (P = 0.146). All disease-related scores were significantly poorer in sedentary compared with active patients. TEE was inversely associated with age (P < 0.001), DAS-28 (P = 0.032) and fatigue VAS (P = 0.029), but not with HAQ and pain VAS. Conclusion. Daily energy expenditure is significantly lower in RA patients compared with matched controls, mainly due to less moderate-intensity PAs performed. Disease activity and fatigue are important contributing factors. These points need to be addressed if promoting PA in RA patients is a health goal. Trial registration. ClinicalTrials.gov, http://clinicaltrials.gov, NCT0122881

Prevalence of normal weight obesity in Switzerland: effect of various definitions

Background: Normal weight obesity (NWO) is defined as an excessive body fat associated with a normal body mass index (BMI <25kg/m2), but its prevalence in the general population is unknown. Aim of the study: To assess the prevalence of NWO in Switzerland according to different cut points used to define excess body fat. Methods: Cross-sectional study including 3,213 women and 2,912 men aged 35-75years. Body fat was assessed by bioelectrical impedance analysis and prevalence of NWO was assessed using four previously published definitions for excess body fat. Results: Percent body fat increased with age: in men, the values (mean±SD) were 20.2±5.4, 23.0±5.4, 26.3±5.2 and 28.2±4.6 for age groups 35-44, 45-54, 55-64 and 65-75years, respectively; the corresponding values for women were 29.9±7.8, 33.1±7.4, 36.7±7.5 and 39.6±6.9. In men, prevalence of NWO was <1% irrespective of the definition used. Conversely, in women, a 1- to 20-fold difference (from 1.4 to 27.8%) in NWO prevalence was found. The prevalence of NWO increased with age when age-independent cut points were used in women, but not in men. Conclusions: Prevalence of NWO is low in the general population and higher in women than in men. The prevalence is highly dependent on the criteria used to define excess body fat, namely in women. The use of gender- and age-specific cut points to define excess body fat is better than fixed or gender-specific only cut point

Association Between White-Coat Effect and Blunted Dipping of Nocturnal Blood Pressure

Background In this study, we assessed whether the white-coat effect (difference between office and daytime blood pressure (BP)) is associated with nondipping (absence of BP decrease at night). Methods Data were available in 371 individuals of African descent from 74 families selected from a population-based hypertension register in the Seychelles Islands and in 295 Caucasian individuals randomly selected from a population-based study in Switzerland. We used standard multiple linear regression in the Swiss data and generalized estimating equations to account for familial correlations in the Seychelles data. Results The prevalence of systolic and diastolic nondipping (<10% nocturnal BP decrease) and white-coat hypertension (WCH) was respectively 51, 46, and 4% in blacks and 33, 37, and 7% in whites. When white coat effect and nocturnal dipping were taken as continuous variables (mm Hg), systolic (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) dipping were associated inversely and independently with white-coat effect (P < 0.05) in both populations. Analogously, the difference between office and daytime heart rate was inversely associated with the difference between daytime and night-time heart rate in the two populations. These results did not change after adjustment for potential confounders. Conclusions The white-coat effect is associated with BP nondipping. The similar associations between office-daytime values and daytime-night-time values for both BP and heart rate suggest that the sympathetic nervous system might play a role. Our findings also further stress the interest, for clinicians, of assessing the presence of a white-coat effect as a means to further identify patients at increased cardiovascular risk and guide treatment accordingl