The data consist of 19 variables on
403 subjects from 1046 subjects who were interviewed in a
study to understand the prevalence of obesity,
diabetes, and other cardiovascular risk factors
in central Virginia for African Americans.
According to Dr John Hong, Diabetes Mellitus Type II (adult
onset diabetes) is associated most strongly with obesity.
The waist/hip ratio may be a predictor in diabetes and
heart disease. DM II is also agssociated with hypertension
- they may both be part of "Syndrome X". The
403 subjects were the ones who were actually screened for
diabetes. Glycosolated hemoglobin > 7.0 is usually
taken as a positive diagnosis of diabetes. For more
information about this study see
Willems JP, Saunders JT, DE Hunt, JB Schorling: Prevalence
of coronary heart disease risk factors among rural blacks: A
community-based study. Southern Medical Journal
90:814-820; 1997
and
Schorling JB, Roach J, Siegel M, Baturka
N, Hunt DE, Guterbock TM, Stewart HL: A trial of church-based
smoking cessation interventions for rural African Americans.
Preventive Medicine 26:92-101; 1997.