Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Health

Advisor

Mary Lou Gutierrez

Abstract

Abstract Obesity has increased among the adult population, specifically women, in the United States within the past few decades. While the increase in obesity has been linked to a lack of physical activity and poor dietary intake, obesity lacks contextual analysis within adult women as a group. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the impact of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) on obesity prevention for weight loss in women. Health behavior change theory, the transtheoretical theory model, and the health behavior model guided this study. The research questions were designed to examine whether modifiable lifestyle factors are associated with obesity and to examine whether there were differences in outcomes after the intervention was implemented. The research design was quantitative with retrospective secondary data. The population sample was obtained from the BRFSS dataset. The sample consisted of 8,767 adult women aged 18 years and older. The independent variables included physical activity, dietary intake, weight loss in Research Question 1, and year in Research Question 2. The dependent variable was obesity in Research Question 1 and weight loss in Research Question 2. Covariates included age, state, and sex. Multiple logistic regression and between-subjects t test were used to test the hypotheses. The results show that sex, age, and state have predictive properties when accounting for the association between physical activity, dietary intake, weight loss, and obesity. The positive social change implications of the findings of the study include their potential use by public health officials and policymakers to increase the implementation of obesity prevention programs that include physical activity, nutrition, and education designed for women.

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