Epidemiology: Open Access
Open Access

Abstract

Background: Obesity is a complex, multi-factorial chronic disease. The global epidemic of overweight and obesity - "globosity" - is rapidly becoming a major public health problem in many parts of the world. Overweight and obesity are the fifth leading health risk factors for deaths around the globe. Objectives: To find the prevalence and risk factors for obesity in women aged 20-60 years in Ludhiana city of Punjab in India. Methods: The present study was a community based cross sectional analytical study, carried out in an urban area of Ludhiana among women between 20-60 years of age. A pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was used to record the socio- demographic profile of women for the study population of 324 subjects. Anthropometric data regarding height and weight was also taken. Chi square test was used to find the association between socio-demographic variables and obesity. Results: In the study population, the prevalence of overweight (BMI=23-24.9) was 12.7% and the prevalence of obesity (BMI >25) was 29.6%. Most of the overweight/obese women belonged to the age group of 40-60 years. Obesity was found to be more common among housewives as compared to the working women. A significant association was found between overweight/ obesity and marital status. There was also a strong association between overweight/obesity and hypertension. Conclusion: Specific (adequate) interventions are required to address the epidemic of obesity among middle aged housewives.

Biography

Anurag Chaudhary did her MD in Community Medicine from the Govt. Medical College, Amritsar in India. She is also a FAIMER Fellow of Regional Institute and Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research of Philadelphia in USA. She has involved actively in various national level programmes. She has published various research articles in national and international journals. She acts as a reviewer for many reputed journals.