The Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity among Women in an Urban Slum of Chennai

Context: Obesity and overweight are creating a global epidemic. They are the risk factors for many non-communicable diseases. Once considered as a problem which was related to affluence, obesity is now growing fast in many developing countries. The prevalence of obesity is on the rise among the slum population. Aims: To find out the prevalence of overweight and obesity among women aged 20 years and above in an urban slum of Chennai. To identify the risk factors which were associated with overweight and obesity in the above study population. Settings and Design: An urban slum in Chennai, a cross sectional study Methods and Material: The present study was undertaken in an urban slum in Chennai city, among women aged 20 years and above. One slum was selected randomly and the households in the slum were sampled by a systematic random sampling method. A pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect information regarding the socio-demographic profile, the diet pattern, the intake of vegetables and fruits, the duration of television viewing in a day and the duration of sleep at night of the study subjects. Anthropometric data regarding height and weight was also taken. WHO Asian Classification of the body mass index (BMI) was used to classify the study population. Statistical Analysis: The analysis was done using the Statistical Package For Social Sciences (SPSS), version 11.5. The prevalence was expressed in percentage and the Chi square test was used to find association with the factors. Results: In the study population, the prevalence of overweight (BMI = 23) was 27.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] 24.3-32.2) and the prevalence of obesity (BMI = 25) was 19.8% (95% CI 16.5-23.6). A significant association was noted between overweight/obesity and higher educational level, higher socio-economic status, inadequate fruit intake, an increased duration of television viewing and a sleep duration of < 7 hours and > 9 hours per night. Conclusion: There is a rising prevalence of overweight and obesity among the urban slum women. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was found to be significantly higher among the slum women with inadequate fruit intake, increased duration of television viewing and a sleep duration of < 7 hours and > 9 hours per night. The prevention is economical and easy at an early stage, with the change occurring in the form of lifestyle modifications at an individual level with increasing awareness.