Obesity among farmers and an effective public health approach for weight reduction

Abstract

Background: Obesity has a high prevalence among the agricultural population. Illnesses associated with obesity are continuously increasing, and generate costs for health and social systems. However, high quality data from representative samples of the agricultural population is sparse and public health programs are rarely offered. Methods: A structured questionnaire was randomly distributed to more than 30.000 farmers. The high response rate of 36.3 % (54 % women, 46 % men) and the balance in terms of gender and provinces assumes representativeness of Austria's rural population. At a public health program, based on personal modification of eating and exercise behaviour through self-control, more than 4.000 participated. Findings: In Austria, about 20 % of farmers are obese. Many of them have unrealistic assessments in term of their body weight and do not have the desire to reduce this risk factor. The offer of a public health program for weight reduction shows that great interest and acceptance exists among the rural population, and that a considerable number of people originally at very unhealthy weight managed to achieve sustainable weight loss. Discussion: Target groups should be informed about the health benefits in healthy weight compared with overweight and obese people, in order to raise health awareness and motivate people at risk for the modification of lifestyle.