Covariates of weight loss among a Mexican American population in the US Southwest

Recent efforts to curb the current rising trend in adult obesity globally and in the United States in particular have focused mostly on a variety of weight loss interventions at various levels of individual and group participation.  Despite the increasing attention that these programs have received, identifying significant predictors of weight loss outcome remain important questions in behavioral health research.  The recent alarming rates of overweight and obesity that characterized the US Southwest are also experienced in Mexico where obesity is not only a major risk factor associated with diabetes, but also other major chronic conditions.

 In this article we address questions of obesity and weight change in a sample that is inclusive of native and foreign born Mexican Americans in the Southwestern United States.  This paper uses data from the Border Epidemiologic Study of Aging (BESA), a four wave, random sample of Mexican Americans on the US Mexico Border to examine the possible covariates of weight loss for baseline obese respondents who lost weight in subsequent data collection points.   

 Results from three separate logistic regression models controlling for variables such as age and gender indicate that age was statistically significant in all three logistic regression models; self rated health status was statistically significant and inversely associated with weight loss, other considerations of serious risks such as death or serious illnesses of friends and kin were also significant.