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Understanding obesity among companion dogs: New measures of owner's beliefs and behaviour and associations with body condition scores

Webb, Thomas L.; du Plessis, Hugues; Christian, Hayley; Raffan, Eleanor; Rohlf, Vanessa; White, Gavin A.

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Authors

Thomas L. Webb

Hugues du Plessis

Hayley Christian

Eleanor Raffan

Vanessa Rohlf

GAVIN WHITE gavin.white@nottingham.ac.uk
Associate Professor



Abstract

© 2020 Elsevier B.V. This research aimed to improve our understanding of how owners’ beliefs and behaviour are associated with obesity in companion dogs. To do this, we employed new theoretical frameworks and integrated previously reported measures to curate a collection of brief, user-friendly self-report measures to assess owner factors. The reliability and validity of these was examined in two phases of empirical research, each with a cross-sectional questionnaire design that also examined the validity of assessing body condition score (BCS) from photographs submitted by owners. Phase 1 (n = 47 dog owners from France) found that the brief owner-report measures correlated with the long-form measures (all correlations except one exceeded r = 0.70). BCS as coded from photographs were highly correlated with a vet's assessment of the same dogs (r = 0.67). Phase 2 (n = 3339 dog owners from France, Germany, the UK, Italy, and Russia) investigated which measures are associated with obesity among companion dogs. Perceptions of the dog's vulnerability to the threat of obesity, perceived weight status, perceived costs associated with ownership, normative beliefs about feeding, social support from friends, and being in the precontemplation stage of change predicted BCS alongside demographic factors (e.g., dog's age, neutered status). Taken together, the findings provide a method for assessing a wide range of factors that may be associated with obesity among companion dogs and point to potential targets for interventions designed to reduce obesity.

Citation

Webb, T. L., du Plessis, H., Christian, H., Raffan, E., Rohlf, V., & White, G. A. (2020). Understanding obesity among companion dogs: New measures of owner's beliefs and behaviour and associations with body condition scores. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 180, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2020.105029

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 12, 2020
Online Publication Date May 21, 2020
Publication Date Jul 1, 2020
Deposit Date Jun 1, 2020
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Preventive Veterinary Medicine
Print ISSN 0167-5877
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 180
Article Number 105029
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2020.105029
Keywords Food Animals; Animal Science and Zoology
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4549992
Publisher URL https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016758772030101X
Additional Information This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Understanding obesity among companion dogs: New measures of owner’s beliefs and behaviour and associations with body condition scores; Journal Title: Preventive Veterinary Medicine; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2020.105029; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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