This study examines trends in the prevalence of obesity-related measures in the US overall and by sex and age group, including weight-for-length, body mass index, and waist circumference. | eng

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare national estimates of self-reported and measured height and weight, BMI, and obesity prevalence among adults from US surveys. METHODS: Self-reported height and weight data came from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the National Health Interview Survey, and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for the years 1999 to 2016. Measured height and weight data were available from NHANES. BMI was calculated from height and weight; obesity was defined as BMI >/= 30. RESULTS: In all three surveys, mean self-reported height was higher than mean measured height in NHANES for both men and women. Mean BMI from self-reported data was lower than mean BMI from measured data across all surveys. For women, mean self-reported weight, BMI, and obesity prevalence in the National Health Interview Survey and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System were lower than self-report in NHANES. The distribution of BMI was narrower for self-reported than for measured data, leading to lower estimates of obesity prevalence. CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported height, weight, BMI, and obesity prevalence were not identical across the three surveys, particularly for women. Patterns of misreporting of height and weight and their effects on BMI and obesity prevalence are complex.

BACKGROUND: Following implementation in 2009-2010 to the oral health component for the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a full-mouth periodontal examination was continued during 2011-2014. Additionally, a comprehensive dental caries assessment was re-introduced in 2011 after a 6-year absence from NHANES. This report provides oral health content information and results of dental examiner reliability statistics for key intraoral assessments conducted by dentists during 2011-2014. METHODS: During the 2011-2014 NHANES 17,463 persons age 1 and older representing the US civilian, non-institutionalized population received an oral health examination. From this group, 387 individuals underwent a repeat examination conducted by the survey reference examiner. A combination of examiner training and calibration, electronic data capture, and ongoing performance evaluation with statistical monitoring was used to ensure conformance with NHANES protocols and data comparability to prior data collection periods. RESULTS: During 2011-2014, the Kappa statistics for the tooth count assessment ranged from 0.96 to 1.00, for untreated dental caries Kappa scores were 0.93 to 1.00. The overall Kappa statistics for identifying combined moderate-severe periodontitis using the CDC/AAP case definition was 0.66 and 0.69 with percent agreement of 83 to 85% during 2011-2014. When evaluating inter-examiner agreement using information collected from 3 periodontal sites for comparability to the NHANES 2003-04 periodontal examination protocols, Kappa scores for combined moderate-severe periodontitis was 0.65 and 0.80 during 2011-2014. For total mean attachment loss and pocket depth across all 6 periodontal sites, the inter-class coefficients (ICCs) ranged from 0.80-0.90 and 0.79-0.86 respectively. Site-specific mean attachment loss ICCs were generally higher for the 4 interproximal measurements compared to the 2 mid-site probing measurements and this observation was similar in 2009-2010. CONCLUSION: During 2011-2014, results overall indicate a high level of data quality and substantial examiner reliability for tooth count and dentition; reliability for periodontal disease, across various assessments, was at least moderate. When comparing the 2011-2014 examiner performance to findings from 2003 to 2004, comparable concordance between the examiners and the reference examiner exists.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D is important for bone health; in 2014 it was the fifth most commonly ordered laboratory test among Medicare Part B payments. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe vitamin D status in the US population in 2011-2014 and trends from 2003 to 2014. METHODS: We used serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D data from NHANES 2011-2014 (n = 16,180), and estimated the prevalence at risk of deficiency (<30 nmol/L) or prevalence at risk of inadequacy (30-49 nmol/L) by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin, and dietary intake of vitamin D. We also present trends between 2003 and 2014. RESULTS: In 2011-2014, the percentage aged >/=1 y at risk of vitamin D deficiency or inadequacy was 5.0% (95% CI: 4.1%, 6.2%) and 18.3% (95% CI: 16.2%, 20.6%). The prevalence of at risk of deficiency was lowest among children aged 1-5 y (0.5%; 95% CI: 0.3%, 1.1%), peaked among adults aged 20-39 y (7.6%; 95% CI: 6.0%, 9.6%), and fell to 2.9% (95% CI: 2.0%, 4.0%) among adults aged >/=60 y; the prevalence of at risk of inadequacy was similar. The prevalence of at risk of deficiency was higher among non-Hispanic black (17.5%; 95% CI: 15.2%, 20.0%) than among non-Hispanic Asian (7.6%; 95% CI: 5.9%, 9.9%), non-Hispanic white (2.1%; 95% CI: 1.5%, 2.7%), and Hispanic (5.9%; 95% CI: 4.4%, 7.8%) persons; the prevalence of at risk of inadequacy was similar. Persons with higher vitamin D dietary intake or who used supplements had lower prevalences of at risk of deficiency or inadequacy. From 2003 to 2014 there was no change in the risk of vitamin D deficiency; the risk of inadequacy declined from 21.0% (95% CI: 17.9%, 24.5%) to 17.7% (95% CI: 16.0%, 19.7%). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of at risk of vitamin D deficiency in the United States remained stable from 2003 to 2014; at risk of inadequacy declined. Differences in vitamin D status by race and Hispanic origin warrant additional investigation.

BACKGROUND: To determine daily flossing prevalence among adults 30+ years in the United States, by demographic and risk factors for periodontal disease, including current tobacco use and diabetes. METHODS: Data from the 2011-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were analyzed for 8,356 adults. Flossing prevalence was estimated. Logistic regression analysis examined the association between daily flossing and demographic and risk factors for periodontal diseases. RESULTS: Daily flossing among adults was 31.6% (standard error [SE] = 0.8). There were significant differences among the categories of flossing according to age, sex, race-Hispanic origin, poverty status, education, current tobacco use, and diabetes status. In adjusted analyses, current tobacco users (OR: 0.82; 95% CI 0.68, 0.99) had lower odds of daily flossing than non-tobacco users; there was no significant difference between adults with and without diabetes (OR 0.75; 95% CI 0.52, 1.08). CONCLUSION: Approximately one third of US adults reported that they floss daily. Daily flossing was higher among women, those with higher income, and non-Hispanic Asian and Hispanic adults, but lower among current tobacco users. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION: Cardiovascular disease remains an important cause of death in the U.S. where veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces represent a significant segment of the population. Limited national estimates of cardiovascular disease risk factors using physical measurements and reported veteran status in the U.S. civilian population have been reported. The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors among veteran and non-veteran men in the U.S. civilian population. METHODS: Using data from the 2009-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 1,107 veteran and 3,972 non-veteran men were identified for this study (analyzed in 2014-2015). Differences in hypertension, dsylipidemia, diabetes, obesity, and smoking between veterans and non-veterans were compared using chi-square and t-tests. Predicted prevalence from multivariable logistic regression models adjusted for age, race/Hispanic origin, and poverty level were used to assess whether previous military service was associated with having a cardiovascular disease risk factor. RESULTS: Veteran men were older than non-veteran men (59.9 years vs 43.4 years) and were more likely to be non-Hispanic white (79.9% vs 65.7%). Adjusted predicted prevalence estimates show that veterans were more likely than non-veterans to be obese (42.6% vs 33.7%, p<0.01). After adjustment for obesity, there was no difference in hypertension, dyslipidemia, diagnosed diabetes, or smoking between veteran and non-veteran men. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified a segment of the U.S. civilian population-veteran men-who have a higher prevalence for obesity, a risk factor associated with increased risk for other cardiovascular disease risk factors.

PURPOSE: Dental caries in preschool children was historically considered to have a unique and more intense pattern of decay and was known by a variety of terms. In 1999, the term early childhood caries (ECC), along with a classification system, was proposed to facilitate epidemiologic research of dental caries in young children. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of those early childhood caries recommendations on the prevalence and measurement of caries in preschool children. METHODS: A systematic search of the MEDLINE database was performed. Key search words included: ECC, dental decay, dental caries, carious dentin, baby bottle tooth decay, nursing caries, maxillary anterior caries, and labial caries. English language studies and studies on more than 100 children younger than six years old were eligible for selection. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data collected from 1988 to 1994, 1999 to 2004, and 2011 to 2012 were used to assess ECC prevalence using different operational definitions. RESULTS: There were 87 articles selected for this review. The term ECC was used in 55 percent of the selected articles as the primary outcome measure. The majority of studies used a cross-section study design, but diagnostic criteria varied greatly. Caries experience in young children may be shifting away from majority of untreated surfaces to a majority of restored surfaces. Little difference was observed by dental surface type in the distribution of decayed and filled surfaces in primary teeth. CONCLUSIONS: Although the term early childhood caries is widely used, varied use of diagnostic criteria and operational definitions continue to limit comparability across studies. Emerging changes in the proportion of decayed and filled surfaces in the United States also raises questions regarding the ECC case definition limiting our ability to understand the epidemiology of dental caries in preschool children.