Obesity linked to decreased seatbelt use

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Public release date: 2-Jan-2008

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-01/vu-olt010208.php

Contact: Moran

melanie.moran@...

Vanderbilt University

Obesity linked to decreased seatbelt use

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Obese people are less likely to use their seatbelts

than the rest of the population, adding to the public health risks

associated with this rapidly growing problem.

The connection was made by Vanderbilt University psychologist

Schlundt and his colleagues at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn.

“We found that when weight goes up, seatbelt use goes down,” Schlundt,

associate professor of psychology and assistant professor of medicine,

said. “This is an additional public health problem associated with

obesity that was not on the radar screen. We hope these new findings

will help promote awareness campaigns to encourage people to use their

seatbelts and that additional resources, like seatbelt extenders, will

be made more readily available.”

Schlundt and his colleagues examined 2002 data from the U.S. Centers for

Disease Control’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, a

telephone survey used to collect data on risky behaviors and health

decisions associated with death.

The study found that approximately 30 percent of individuals with a body

mass index (kilograms per meter squared) that qualified them as

overweight, obese or extremely obese reported not using a seatbelt,

compared to approximately 20 percent of the average population.

Furthermore, seatbelt use declined as BMI increased, with approximately

55 percent of extremely obese individuals reporting they did not use a

seatbelt. The connection between increased body mass index and decreased

seatbelt use held even when controlling for other factors, such as

gender, race and seatbelt laws in the respondent’s state.

The scope of the public health problem posed by the lack of seatbelt use

is magnified by the growing rate of obesity; nearly 60 percent of the

survey respondents fell into the categories of overweight, obese or

extremely obese.

“We know obesity increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes

and some cancers,” Schlundt said. “We now know that increased risk of

injury or death due to a car accident can be added to the list of risk

associated with obesity.”

The authors suggest that a reason why people with a high BMI do not use

seatbelts is because doing so is uncomfortable.

“Efforts should be made to raise public awareness about seatbelt

extender availability, and manufacturers not offering seatbelt extenders

should be encouraged, or required, to make them available,” they wrote.

“Engineering solutions such as seatbelts with wider, more cushioned

bands and greater adjustability may also be helpful by making seatbelts

more comfortable for overweight and obese persons.”

Seatbelt usage reduces automobile crash-related deaths and injuries by

at least 50 percent.

###

The results were published in the November 2007 issue of the journal

Obesity. Schlundt and his co-authors, iel Briggs, Stephania

, Carlotta Arthur and Irwin Goldzweig at Meharry Medical College,

are members of the National Center for Optimal Health. The research was

supported by a grant from State Farm.

For more Vanderbilt news visit VUCast, http://www.vanderbilt.edu/news.

[broadcast media note: Vanderbilt has a television studio with a

satellite uplink and an ISDN line. The researcher will be available for

phone interviews Jan. 2-6 and will be available for television or

ISDN-quality radio interviews beginning Jan. 7].

--

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