Obesity- Related Health Risk: A Trajectory Based Approach

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Edmonton Obesity Staging System (EOSS) approach as a tool for the identification of obesity-related health risk. Using 20 years of follow-up data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study (N=5115; age 18-34), trajectory modelling analysis was used to identify distinct clusters of individuals following similar patterns of obesity using modified EOSS criteria. The final model acquired through the Proc Traj macro suggests that there are 4 distinct EOSS stage-increase trajectories. After adjusting for covariates, individuals in the medium risk trajectory were twice more likely to follow protein consumption guidelines (OR=2.08 95% CI=1.18-3.65), 47% less likely to be black (0.53, 0.37-0.76), 43% less likely to have a history of dieting (0.57, 0.37-0.86), and were also less likely to be either occasional (0.51, 0.29-0.9) or frequent (0.25, 0.14-0.45) weight cyclers when compared to the highest risk trajectory.