Journal of Obesity & Weight Loss Therapy
Open Access

Abstract

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) now account for a very large burden in terms of both mortality and morbidity in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Although obesity is a major health risk for many NCDs such as diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, and some forms of cancer, little is known about its magnitude in Cameroon. The objective is to study the trends of the prevalence of obesity and overweight among Cameroonian women between 2004 and 2011, and identify socioeconomic characteristics associated with these health problems. Data from the 2004 and 2011 Cameroon Demographic and Health Surveys are used. Analyses focus on women aged 15-49, excluding those who were pregnant at the time of surveys. Obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, while overweight is defined as a BMI between 25 and 29.9. Logistic regression is used for tests for trend. Results highlight a significant increase (p = 0.000) in the prevalence of women obesity from 7.8% in 2004 to 10.3% in 2011. By contrast, no significant increase (p=0.459) in the prevalence of overweight is observed between 2004 (20.6%) and 2011 (21.0%). Living in urban areas, belonging to relatively wealthy households, having a low educational level, being a household head and aged are factors associated with a higher risk of obesity. The prevalence of obesity among women increased significantly from 2004 to 2011. Therefore, more effective prevention and health promotion interventions targeting the most at risk are needed to slow the progression of this health problem.

Biography

Hyacinthe T. Kankeu is Ph.D. Student in health economics at Aix-Marseille School of Economics. He has completed his masters? degree from University of Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France. He has published one paper in Health Research Policy and Systems.