Kansas Health Activity and Nutrition Survey

(K-HANS)

Recent efforts by the United States Office of the Surgeon General and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as others, have drawn public attention to the growing problems of overweight and obesity in the U.S. Population. While national studies provide some information about health behaviors and risk factors associated with obesity, little information is currently available regarding factors related to obesity among Kansans.

From the annual state Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey, we know that the percentage of adult Kansans who were classified as obese (defined as having a body mass index of 30.0 or greater) increased from 12 percent in 1992 to 22 percent in 2001. The sample size and design of the annual BRFSS survey does not allow for reliable analysis of minority sub-populations (African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos), it asks obesity-related questions about only one adult in each household and does not simultaneously incorporate all supplemental questions on behaviors and risk factors that would be of interest in the study of obesity. Consequently, there is currently little Kansas-specific information to effectively target obesity or overweight interventions among children and high-risk subgroups within the state.

The Kansas Health Institute (KHI) proposed to conduct a statewide telephone survey designed to provide estimates of obesity prevalence and related behavioral and health risk factors among Kansas residents. The goals of this project were to obtain data that will provide an enhanced understanding of factors associated with obesity among Kansans, enable program managers to more effectively target their intervention efforts, and serve as a baseline from which change can be measured.

In 2004, with funding from the Sunflower Founation, Kansas Health Institute collaborated with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Bureau of Health Promotion to assess obesity related factors in Kansas. During the first several months, both partners collaborated on the questionnaire development and identification of the sampling frame. Data collection was done by using disproportionate stratified random digit dial sample methodology. Data collection started on February 1, 2005 and ended March 10, 2006.