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Body mass and fatness of Japanese college women and relationship to place of residence.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

Aim: The objectives of the present study are to examine prevalence of overweight, underweight, and overfat and underfat in Japanese college women and to determine if and how living arrangements during college were related.

Methods: During 1997-2004, 1757 female college students (18-23 years) in an urban city in Japan were measured for height, weight and body fatness. They completed a demographic questionnaire identifying place of residence.

Results: Nearly three times as many women were underweight as were overweight from 1997 to 2004, but 33.8% were overfat and only 1.8% underfat. The mean percentage body fat (25.6 [+ or -] 5.2%) was similar to that of other similarly aged Japanese college women, but exceeded that of Japanese teenagers and young adults in several other studies. Despite no difference in BMI by place of residence, those students who lived alone in an apartment or lived in a dormitory had significantly higher percentage of body fatness (n = 493, 26.1 [+ or -] 5.6% vs. n = 577, 25.7 [+ or -] 5.1%, respectively) compared with those living with their family (n = 524, 24.8 [+ or -] 4.7%).

Conclusions: The high prevalence of underweight in college women concurrent with increasing body fatness might be cause for concern. Women who lived alone had the highest adiposity.

Key words: body mass index, fatness, health, young adult.

INTRODUCTION

Obesity is increasing worldwide, and countries of the Pacific Rim are no exception to this growing trend. (1) The many life transitions that occur during young adulthood can contribute to, or defend against, increases in obesity. (2-4) The late adolescence period of leaving high school and entry into college or university is often accompanied by changes in diet, physical activity, living arrangement and social contacts. (2,5) Many older youth in Japan change their housing arrangement and start to live alone when they begin college or employment. (6) Changes in place of residence might influence daily food habits and/or physical activity and influence body composition and health. (2-4)

Few studies have examined the relation of housing to body composition, and those studies, mostly with animals, have focused on the effects of temperature or group housing. (7,8) In one study of college students living on and off campus, Brevard and Ricketts found that those off campus had higher intakes of protein and higher serum lipid levels, but no difference in physical activity. (2) It is interesting that more studies have not examined the relation of housing to body composition, because so many college women have concerns about gaining weight. In North America, this weight gain has gained notoriety as the 'freshman fifteen' in terms of the 15 pounds of weight (6.8 kg) often gained during the first year in college. (9,10)

College women are an important target group for several reasons. First, they are typically the most concerned about appearance and at high risk for disordered eating. (5,11,12) Second, in future family roles, Japanese women are still the ones with primary responsibility for food and health care.

In a recent study of female and male university students from 22 countries, Wardle et al. explored the associations between body mass index (BMI; kg/[m.sup.2]), weight perceptions and attempts to lose weight. (13) Women from Asian countries had lower average body weights of about 50 kg compared with 55-65 kg for young women from other countries. These Asian women also reported the greatest perception of overweight and made the greatest number of attempts to lose weight. The low body weight of Asian women is an anomaly compared with college or young adult women from other parts of the world, suggesting that local culture and social norms might play an important role in weight control behaviour. (13,14) During the past 40 years, the number of women dieting for a slim body has increased in Japan. (12-14) Although there is no evidence of increased physical activity for weight management, there has been an increase in smoking. (14) Of further interest is that a secondary analysis of national Japanese survey data from 1976 to 2000 by Takimoto et al. found that, among young women (aged 15-29 years), the secular trends in BMI had declined; this age group had the highest prevalence of thinness. (14)...

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