DETERMINANTS OF OBESITY AMONG WOMEN OF REPRODUCTIVE AGE IN RURAL SINDH, PAKISTAN. A COMMUNITY BASED, CASE-CONTROL STUDY
1
Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):A2922
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Obesity is the fifth leading cause of global deaths,¹ and women are more likely to be overweight or obese than men.² Obese or overweight women are at higher risk of cardiovascular diseases, osteoarthritis, pre-eclampsia, anovulation, and adverse pregnancy outcomes such as miscarriages. 3-5 There is also a lack of data around the contributing risk factors to obesity among women from rural regions.
METHODS:
A case-control study was conducted in the rural communities of Matiari, Sindh, Pakistan. A total of 161 women of reproductive age (18-49 years) were enrolled, out of which 81 women having BMI >23 kg/m² were cases and 80 women having BMI >23 kg/m² were controls. Data on sociodemographic, lifestyle factors and anthropometric assessment was done. The associations between the exposure variables, which were socioeconomic status, dietary intake, physical activity, food insecurity, sleep quality, and the outcome variable, i.e., obesity, were assessed.
RESULTS:
Women with obesity were slightly of higher age, belonged to the richest wealth quintile, and experienced lower food insecurity as compared to women with normal weight. The categorization of physical activity level, dietary diversity, and sleep quality demonstrated similar scoring for both obese women and normal-weight women. The adjusted logistic regression analysis did not reveal any notable associations between specific variables and the likelihood of being overweight or obese.
CONCLUSIONS:
The results of our study showed that these rural regions are still not influenced by the urbanization and mechanization of work, which leads to higher physical activity levels and good sleep quality among the rural women and reduces the stigmatization of these women for gaining weight due to unhealthy habits. However, it will be undoubtedly easier to comprehend the intricate architecture of obesity onset and progression if future research focuses on heredity, gene–lifestyle interactions, epigenetics, and obesogenic environment factors, especially for rural settings.
Obesity is the fifth leading cause of global deaths,¹ and women are more likely to be overweight or obese than men.² Obese or overweight women are at higher risk of cardiovascular diseases, osteoarthritis, pre-eclampsia, anovulation, and adverse pregnancy outcomes such as miscarriages. 3-5 There is also a lack of data around the contributing risk factors to obesity among women from rural regions.
METHODS:
A case-control study was conducted in the rural communities of Matiari, Sindh, Pakistan. A total of 161 women of reproductive age (18-49 years) were enrolled, out of which 81 women having BMI >23 kg/m² were cases and 80 women having BMI >23 kg/m² were controls. Data on sociodemographic, lifestyle factors and anthropometric assessment was done. The associations between the exposure variables, which were socioeconomic status, dietary intake, physical activity, food insecurity, sleep quality, and the outcome variable, i.e., obesity, were assessed.
RESULTS:
Women with obesity were slightly of higher age, belonged to the richest wealth quintile, and experienced lower food insecurity as compared to women with normal weight. The categorization of physical activity level, dietary diversity, and sleep quality demonstrated similar scoring for both obese women and normal-weight women. The adjusted logistic regression analysis did not reveal any notable associations between specific variables and the likelihood of being overweight or obese.
CONCLUSIONS:
The results of our study showed that these rural regions are still not influenced by the urbanization and mechanization of work, which leads to higher physical activity levels and good sleep quality among the rural women and reduces the stigmatization of these women for gaining weight due to unhealthy habits. However, it will be undoubtedly easier to comprehend the intricate architecture of obesity onset and progression if future research focuses on heredity, gene–lifestyle interactions, epigenetics, and obesogenic environment factors, especially for rural settings.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
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