PLOS ONE – Height and Weight Bias: The Influence of Time

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Abstract

Background

We have previously identified in a study of both self-reported body mass index (BMI) and clinically measured BMI that the sensitivity score in the obese category has declined over a 10-year period. It is known that self-reported weight is significantly lower that measured weight and that self-reported height is significantly higher than measured height. The purpose of this study is to establish if self-reported height bias or weight bias, or both, is responsible for the declining sensitivity in the obese category between self-reported and clinically measured BMI.

Methods

We report on self-reported and clinically measured height and weight from three waves of the Surveys of Lifestyle Attitudes and Nutrition (SLÁN) involving a nationally representative sample of Irish adults. Data were available from 66 men and 142 women in 1998, 147 men and 184 women in 2002 and 909 men and 1128 women in 2007. Respondents were classified into BMI categories normal (<25 kg/m2), overweight (25–<30 kg/m2) and obese (≥30 kg/m2).

Results

Self-reported height bias has remained stable over time regardless of gender, age or clinical BMI category. Self-reported weight bias increases over time for both genders and in all age groups. The increased weight bias is most notable in the obese category.

Conclusions

BMI underestimation is increasing across time. Knowledge that the widening gap between self-reported BMI and measured BMI is attributable to an increased weight bias brings us one step closer to accurately estimating true obesity levels in the population using self-reported data.

Citation: Shiely F, Hayes K, Perry IJ, Kelleher CC (2013) Height and Weight Bias: The Influence of Time. PLoS ONE 8(1): e54386. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054386

Editor: Manlio Vinciguerra, Foundation for Liver Research, United Kingdom

Received: September 17, 2012; Accepted: December 11, 2012; Published: January 23, 2013

Copyright: © 2013 Shiely et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Funding: This work was not funded but was conducted under the auspices of the HRB Centre for Diet and Health Research. The HRB had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

* E-mail: f.shiely@ucc.ie

via PLOS ONE: Height and Weight Bias: The Influence of Time.

The life underwriting implications should be obvious.  Increased weight bias is most notable in the obese.  When in doubt, weigh ’em.

Vitamin D Level Predicts Death in CABG

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Patients with vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency, defined by levels of 25(OH)D, had significantly higher 90-day mortality after CABG than those who had sufficient levels of the vitamin (OR 5.24 and OR 4.61, respectively), Takuhiro Moromizato, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues reported during an oral session at the Society of Critical Care Medicine meeting.

The study was limited by its observational design, which can’t prove causality, and by the potential for selection bias and unmeasured confounders.

via Vitamin D Level Predicts Death in CABG.

Testosterone Pit – Paradigm Shift For The Healthcare Expense Monster

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After housing expenses—81% of those below the official poverty level and 62% of low-income working families spent over 33% of their income on housing—and after day-to-day essentials, such as food and energy, little if any money remains for medical expenses.But there is a parallel phenomenon: high-deductible health insurance plans linked to tax-advantaged IRA-like Health Savings Accounts. While deductibles range from $1,000 to $4,000 or more, the much lower premiums and tax savings can turn this into a bonanza for healthy people—if they keep their medical expenses down. The plans have taken off, much to the lament of healthcare providers. In 2006, only 10% of those with health insurance opted for a high-deductible plan; by 2012, their ranks had swollen to 34%!

via Testosterone Pit – Home – Paradigm Shift For The Healthcare Expense Monster.

You may agree or disagree with the opinion in this article but nonetheless, the perspective is fascinating.  Read it.

Oklahoma Supreme Court Addresses Misrepresentation Statute

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Leasa M. Stewart's avatarGableGotwals Insurance Law Update

On December 18, 2012, the Oklahoma Supreme Court decided Benson v. Leaders Life Insurance Co., 2012 OK 111, ___ P.3d ___.  The Benson case involved the interpretation of section 3609 of Title 36, which deals with when an insurer may rescind a policy due to misrepresentations, omissions, concealment of facts, or incorrect statements made in the application for the insurance policy.  As noted in the opinion, the Oklahoma Supreme Court has held on several occasions that the statute requires a finding of an “intent to deceive” the insurer before a policy may be avoided by reason of the insured’s false statement or omission in the application.  However, in discussing the insurer’s purported failure to use a medical release provided by the insured at the time of application (Id. at ¶ 9), the Benson opinion brings into question other Oklahoma Supreme Court and federal court pronouncements stating that…

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