scholarly journals An epidemiological study of the prevalence and determinants of overweight and obesity in women of reproductive age (15 to 49 years) group in an urban slum

Author(s):  
Pratibha U. Mulik ◽  
Sudam R. Suryawanshi

Background: After comparing data of NFHS-3 and 4, prevalence of overweight and obesity in women of an urban population almost doubled in 10 yr. So, the causes of increasing prevalence need to be studied as public health concern. Objective of the study is to determine prevalence of overweight and obesity among reproductive age group (15-49 years) of women in an urban slum of Mumbai.Methods: Total 220 women were selected among 11 sectors from A to K by simple random method and data collected by using validated questionnaire. WHO’s classification was used to classify as overweight and obese.Results: Out of 220 women participated in study, 14 (6.36%) were obese, 75 (34.09%) were overweight according to BMI and 17 (7.7%) were found to be obese according to waist to hip ratio. From the present study it was seen that age group of the women, socio economic class, education, history of hypothyroidism, family history of obesity, types of work women do, hours of television watching, calorie and fat intake, had a significant relationship with BMI, whereas physical exercise they used to do and tendency to sleep in the afternoon and hours of sleep in the night had non-significant relationship with BMI.Conclusions: Obesity and overweight is found to be a growing public health problem and can be preventable. Interventional measures include developing healthy eating habits, regular moderate physical exercise, sleeping habits, health camps for screening of overweight and obesity.

Author(s):  
Daniel A. Saji ◽  
Mahesh B. Jajulwar ◽  
Anita G. Shenoy

Background: Obesity is perhaps the most prevalent form of malnutrition. As a chronic disease, prevalent in both developed and developing countries, and affecting both children and adults. In India due urbanization and modernization people are moving into urban centres and along with increasing wealth, concerns about an obesity epidemic in India are growing. The present study was carried out to assess the demographic distribution and prevalence of overweight and obesity in adults in an urban slum. Methods: The cross sectional study includes 350 adult populations from the Shivaji Nagar (Govandi) urban slum of the Mumbai city in India and study was carried out over a period of one year from August 2014 to July 2015. Results: Our study showed that most of subjects are in the age group of 38-57. Sex distribution was relatively equal with 44% males and 56% females. Majority of the population were Muslims. Majority of the subjects (50.6%) belong to class III, (26.9%). 32.3% subjects were obese and 8.6% were overweight according to BMI (basal metabolic index) while merely 6.6% were overweight according to WHR (waist to hip ratio). Thus BMI was found to be a better indicator than WHR for measuring obesity. Conclusions: From the present study it was seen that age group of the subjects, socio economic class, and level of education had a significant relationship with BMI, whereas sex of the subjects had non-significant relationship with BMI. 


Author(s):  
Abayomi Samuel Oyekale

Background: The growing incidence of mortality as a result cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) is a major public health concern in several developing countries. In Ghana, unhealthy food consumption pattern and sedentary lifestyle are promoting overweight and obesity, with significant consequences on the incidence of CVDs. Specifically, hypertension morbidity is now a public health concern among Ghanaian health policy makers. This paper analysed the effect of body mass index (BMI)/arm circumference and other associated factors on hypertension risk among women of reproductive ages in Ghana. Methods: The data were collected as Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) in 2014. This paper analysed the subset of the data that were collected from eligible women 15–49 years of age. The total sample was 9396, while 9367 gave consents to have their blood pressure measured. Data were analysed with instrumental probit regression model with consideration of potential endogeneity of BMI and arm circumference. Results: The results showed that 25% of the women were either overweight or obese, while 13.28% were hypertensive. Women from the Greater Accra (18.15%), Ashanti (15.53%) and Volta (15.02%) regions had the highest incidences of hypertension. BMI and arm circumferences were truly endogenous and positively associated with the probability of being hypertensive. Other factors that influenced hypertension were age of women, region of residence, urban/rural residence, being pregnant, access to medical insurance, currently working, consumption of broth cubes, processed can meats, salted meat and fruits. Conclusion: It was concluded that hypertension risk was positively associated with being overweight, obesity, age and consumption of salted meat.It was inter aliaemphasized that engagement in healthy eating with less consumption of salted meats, and more consumption of fruits would assist in controlling hypertension among Ghanaian women.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sakineh Nouri Saeidlou ◽  
Fariba Babaei ◽  
Parvin Ayremlou

Introduction.Malnutrition is one of the most important causes for improper physical and mental development of children. Childhood obesity is a worldwide public health problem. The increasing prevalence of childhood obesity has become a growing matter of public health concern worldwide. The aim of the current study was to determine the prevalence of malnutrition and obesity in children under 5 years old in Salmas district.Methods.The current study is a cross-sectional study conducted on 902 of children under 5 years old to assess the nutritional status in Salmas district and performed from 16 until 30 October, 2011, with the cooperation of the Office of Community Nutrition Improvement and the United Nations Children’s Fund. ENA (Emergency Nutrition Assessment) and Spss software were used for data analysis.Results.49.6% of children were boys and 50.4% were girls. The prevalence of malnutrition based on underweight, stunting, and wasting was estimated to be 2.3%, 7.3%, and 1.4% among children, respectively. Stunting was more common in rural areas and this difference was significant (P<0.001).Conclusion.In this area stunting, overweight and obesity were the most important priorities that health officials must pay more attention to. ENA software has a special ability to determine the samples and clusters and is a simple, rapid, and accurate method, especially in epidemiological studies in the country, and can be a convenient tool and its use is suggested for the same studies.


2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 17-23
Author(s):  
George L Muntingh ◽  
M Viljoen

Despite some modest improvements described recently, anaemia remains a significant global public health concern affecting both developed and developing countries. It affects a quarter of the global population, including 293 million (47%) children who are younger than five years of age. A prevalence of 42% and 30% has been described in pregnant and non-pregnant women, respectively. Children and women of reproductive age are at high risk, partly because of physiological vulnerability, followed by the elderly. Africa and Asia are the most heavily affected regions, accounting for 85% of the absolute anaemia burden in highrisk groups. According to the World Health Organization global database on anaemia (1993–2005), this disorder was considered to be a moderate public health problem in South African preschool children, pregnant women and non-pregnant women of reproductive age. There has been an increased awareness of anaemia and its consequences on the health and development of women and children in the past few decades. The many underlying causes of the various types of anaemia seen in general practice means it is essential that practitioners’ clinical decisions be underpinned by a sound knowledge of the pathological processes involved. Thorough history-taking will guide practitioners to request specific tests to confirm or refute differential diagnoses. Management must be developed around the specific type of anaemia and the potential physical and psychological effects it may have on the individual.


Author(s):  
Ananya M. Balakrishna ◽  
Usha Rani S. Padmanabha ◽  
Rajappa Maheswaran

Background: Anaemia affects 1.62 billion people globally which corresponds to 24.8% of the population and the prevalence of anaemia in pregnant women is 56 million. In India 16% of maternal deaths are attributed to anaemia with prevalence of 50.3%. Hence, this study was done to assess the prevalence of anemia and its associated factors among the pregnant women attending the maternity hospital.Methods: A hospital based cross section study was done among pregnant women receiving antenatal care over a period of 2 months. Based on the prevalence rate of anaemia; 39.6%, the estimated sample size was 368. Haemoglobin was estimated by cyanmethaemoglobin method. All pregnant women who voluntarily agreed to participate were selected by systematic sampling method.Results: Majority of subjects were in the age group of 15 to 24 years, 60.6%. Nearly 90% were Hindus, 83.2% were homemakers and 62% belonged to nuclear family. The prevalence of anaemia was 56% in which 46.6% had mild anaemia, 51.9% had moderate and 1.5% were severely anaemic. Univariate analysis showed religion, occupation, gestational age and history of abortion being associated with anaemia. In multivariate analysis women in first trimester of pregnancy and history of abortion were significant factors for anaemia.Conclusions: In developing nations like India anaemia is a major public health problem contributing to maternal and infant mortality and morbidities; henceforth there is a need for an effective intervention in the form of health education modules to the community and nutritional counseling for women in the reproductive age group about the importance of Iron supplementation during antenatal period.


Author(s):  
Bethan Evans ◽  
Charlotte Cooper

Over the last twenty years or so, fatness, pathologised as overweight and obesity, has been a core public health concern around which has grown a lucrative international weight loss industry. Referred to as a ‘time bomb’ and ‘the terror within’, analogies of ‘war’ circulate around obesity, framing fatness as enemy.2 Religious imagery and cultural and moral ideologies inform medical, popular and policy language with the ‘sins’ of ‘gluttony’ and ‘sloth’, evoked to frame fat people as immoral at worst and unknowledgeable victims at best, and understandings of fatness intersect with gender, class, age, sexuality, disability and race to make some fat bodies more problematically fat than others. As Evans and Colls argue, drawing on Michel Foucault, a combination of medical and moral knowledges produces the powerful ‘obesity truths’ through which fatness is framed as universally abject and pathological. Dominant and medicalised discourses of fatness (as obesity) leave little room for alternative understandings.


Author(s):  
I.E. Levchenko ◽  
◽  
A.Y. Kuznetsov ◽  
E.G. Korniltseva ◽  
◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
pp. 175797592199571
Author(s):  
Sikopo Nyambe ◽  
Taro Yamauchi

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) factors are responsible for 11.4% of deaths in Zambia, making WASH a key public health concern. Despite annual waterborne disease outbreaks in the nation’s peri-urban (slum) settlements being linked to poor WASH, few studies have proactively analysed and conceptualised peri-urban WASH and its maintaining factors. Our study aimed to (a) establish residents’ definition of peri-urban WASH and their WASH priorities; and (b) use ecological theory to analyse the peri-urban WASH ecosystem, highlighting maintaining factors. Our study incorporated 16 young people (aged 17–24) residing in peri-urban Lusaka, Zambia in a photovoice exercise. Participants took photographs answering the framing question, ‘What is WASH in your community?’ Then, through contextualisation and basic codifying, participants told the stories of their photographs and made posters to summarise problems and WASH priorities. Participant contextualisation and codifying further underwent theoretical thematic analysis to pinpoint causal factors alongside key players, dissecting the peri-urban WASH ecosystem via the five-tier ecological theory ranging from intrapersonal to public policy levels. Via ecological theory, peri-urban WASH was defined as: (a) poor practice (intrapersonal, interpersonal); (b) a health hazard (community norm); (c) substandard and unregulated (public policy, organisational); and (d) offering hope for change (intrapersonal, interpersonal). Linked to these themes, participant findings revealed a community level gap, with public policy level standards, regulations and implementation having minimal impact on overall peri-urban WASH and public health due to shallow community engagement and poor acknowledgement of the WASH realities of high-density locations. Rather than a top-down approach, participants recommended increased government–resident collaboration, offering residents more ownership and empowerment for intervention, implementation and defending of preferred peri-urban WASH standards.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janaina R. Niehues ◽  
Ana Inês Gonzales ◽  
Robson R. Lemos ◽  
Poliana Penasso Bezerra ◽  
Patrícia Haas

Introduction. Infant juvenile obesity is currently a worldwide public health problem and it is increasing at alarming rate in the Brazilian population, showing its relevance in terms of public health.Objectives. Determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents between 2 and 19 years old in different regions of Brazil.Methods. The following electronic databases were searched (from September through November 2013): Medline (PubMed), LILACS, and SciELO, using the descriptors and Boolean operators (obesity) and (overweight) and (child) and (prevalence) and (Brazil). Prospective and/or cross-sectional designs studies were found regarding the prevalence of overweight and obese children and adolescents in the five regions of Brazil.Results. A total of 191 scientific articles were found of which 17 met all inclusion criteria. A higher prevalence of overweight was found in the south (25.7%) and north (28.8%) of the country, and obesity in the southeast (15.4%) and south (10.4%).Conclusions. The scope of the studies was mostly based on municipal coverage, which resulted in limitations for conclusive analysis, showing the need for further studies of prevalence at the national level, with emphasis on public health in obese children and adolescents throughout the Brazilian territory.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nik Qistina Nik Abd Rahim ◽  
Nor Afiah Mohd Zulkefli ◽  
Mohd Arshil Moideen

Abstract Background: It is a major public health concern when 52% of adults worldwide were overweight and obese. Military institutions worldwide were included, which led to negative impacts on the overall combat readiness due to the obesity-associated-diseases. This study determined the prevalence and predictors of overweight and obesity among the low socioeconomic status (SES) army personnel in Kuala Lumpur. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 772 low SES army personnel in Kuala Lumpur was conducted. Online questionnaires were distributed while anthropometric measurements’ data were obtained from Military Lifetime Health Record (MLHR) system with BMI of > 25kg/m2 as the outcome. Data analysed using SPSS version 23.0 (descriptive and inferential statistics). Results: The median age of the respondents was 30 (IQR=7) years. The prevalence of overweight and obese army personnel was 41.1% (95%CI:37.6-44.6). The predictors found were being married (AOR:2.026,95%CI:1.318-3.113), secondary education (AOR:2.545,95%CI:1.245-5.203), Lance Corporal (AOR:1.994,95%CI:1.061-3.748), Corporal (AOR:2.814,95%CI:1.578-5.020), Sergeant (AOR:4.174,95%CI:2.076-8.390), past injury (AOR:1.879,95%CI: 1.191-2.965), history of obese sibling (AOR:1.737,95%CI:1.013-2.973), history of obese parent (AOR:3.344,95%CI:1.965-5.688), history of obese grandparent (AOR:11.321,95%CI:2.207-58.072), poor knowledge on dietary intake (AOR:1.524,95%CI:1.077-2.157), less than 2 litres daily plain water intake (AOR:1.606,95%CI:1.166-2.210). Conclusions: Knowledge on dietary intake and plain water intake are the two modifiable predictors for overweight and obesity found in this study, while the other nine predictors are non-modifiable. Understanding on issues surrounding the low SES group will help the strategic level in planning for future comprehensive interventions on overweight and obesity, specifically targeting on those predictors.


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