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ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of obesity and sociodemographic factors on the health hardships among women veterans, using a sample from California. This study evaluates the following research questions: 1) What health hardships do women veterans experience? 2) What are the differences among women veterans with normal weight, overweight, and obesity and their experience with health hardships? 3) What is the impact of obesity combined with other factors (sociodemographic and health-care variables) in predicting the presence of one or more health hardships? Health hardships encompass the presence of several diseases including (heart disease, asthma, diabetes, or high blood pressure) among women veterans? The study sample included 197 female veterans retrieved from a community sample of women in California. Nearly a third (29.5%) of female veterans served in the armed forces for 2 years or less, 32.5% served in the armed forces for 2 to 4 years, 28.9% served in the armed forces 4 to 20 years, and the reminder (12.7%) served in the armed forces over 20 years. Statistically significant differences were noted among the BMI categories in having diabetes (χ2 = 9.671; df = 2; p < .008) and having high blood pressure (χ2 = 11.323; df = 2; p < .003) (Table 3). Female veterans who were obese (58.3% vs. 43.0%) and overweight (29.2% vs. 33.7%) suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure more than female veterans who had normal weight (12.5% vs. 23.3%). Being obese or overweight (Wald χ2 (1) = 8.346, p < .004), being White (Wald χ2 (1) = 4.893, p < .027), being employed (Wald χ2 (1) = 3.951, p < .047), and being poor (Wald χ2 (1) = 9.269, p < .002) predicted health hardships (χ2 = 43.114; p < .0005).