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Health behind bars: obesity and cardiometabolic risk according to different indicators in incarcerated men

Ramazan Mert Atan (Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Bandirma Onyedi Eylul University, Balikesir, Turkiye)
Sedat Arslan (Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Bandirma Onyedi Eylul University, Balikesir, Turkiye)
Kevser Tari Selçuk (Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Bandirma Onyedi Eylul University, Balikesir, Turkiye)

International Journal of Prison Health

ISSN: 2977-0254

Article publication date: 7 January 2025

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to evaluate the obesity and cardiometabolic disease risks of incarcerated men and to determine the related factors.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was cross-sectional and 139 incarcerated men were included. Data were collected using a questionnaire containing the Descriptive Information Form and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. The incarcerated men’ body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio and waist-to-height ratio were evaluated. The significance level of statistical tests was accepted as p < 0.05.

Findings

According to BMI, the rates of incarcerated men with overweight were 53.2% and with obesity were 13.7%. Their cardiometabolic disease risk according to waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio and waist-to-height ratio was 47.5%, 53.2% and 73.4%, respectively. The cardiometabolic disease risk was 2.66 times higher in the married and 3.71 times higher in those with senior high school or lower education according to waist circumference, and 4.16 times higher in those who were in the aged = 40 years according to the waist-to-hip ratio, 3.49 times higher in those who were in the aged = 40 years and 4.26 times higher in those with senior high school or lower education according to the waist-to-height ratio.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first study in which obesity and the risk of cardiometabolic disease in incarcerated men was investigated in Türkiye. In the incarcerated individuals, there was an association between the increased cardiometabolic diseases risk and variables such as older age, being married and having senior high school or lower education.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Funding: The authors reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Conflict of interest: The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Author contributions: Ramazan Mert Atan, Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Software, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing, Project administration. Sedat Arslan, Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Software, Supervision, Writing – review and editing. Kevser Tarı Selçuk, Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Visualization, Supervision, Writing – review and editing.

Citation

Atan, R.M., Arslan, S. and Tari Selçuk, K. (2025), "Health behind bars: obesity and cardiometabolic risk according to different indicators in incarcerated men", International Journal of Prison Health, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOPH-07-2024-0037

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited

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