Factors Associated With Obesity in Adult Women: Respiratory Exchange Ratio, Heart Rate Variation and Body Image

Methods: This is a cross-sectional design study. Subjects were recruited from Taipei city. Inclusion criteria are women aged between 20 and 50 years old and have willing to participate to this study. Subjects will be excluded as follows: (1) taking medications that affect weight or hormones; (2) fluctuation of weight exceeds 2 kg within 3 months before the enrolled in study; (3) any condition that causes the subject fail to complete the test paper, such as: cognitive problems; (4) diagnosed with mental illness; (5) pregnancy or menopause. The assessments include: obesity-related indicators (height, weight, waist and hip circumference, percentage of body fat), respiratory exchange ratio, heart rate variability, body image (multi-directional self-body relationship questionnaire (MBSRQ), figure rating scale (FRS)), physical activity (Seven-days Physical Activity Recall, 7-d PAR), eating behavior (Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire, revised 18-item, TFEQ-18), and depression (Mongomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale, MADRS). Statistical analysis will be performed by using SPSS version 18 (SPSS Inc, Chicago: SPSS Inc.), and significant level would be set at 0.05. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) will be used to examine the differences of all measured variables among different degrees of obesity groups. In addition, we will use multiple linear regression analysis to examine whether overweight and obesity are significantly related to respiratory exchange rate, heart rate variability and body image.