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Nationally representative surveys show gradual shifting of overweight and obesity towards poor and less-educated women of reproductive age in Nepal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2020

Ipsita Sutradhar Open the ORCID record for Ipsita Sutradhar [Opens in a new window] ,
Tahmina Akter ,
Mehedi Hasan ,
Rajat Das Gupta Open the ORCID record for Rajat Das Gupta [Opens in a new window] ,
Hemraj Joshi ,
Mohammad Rifat Haider Open the ORCID record for Mohammad Rifat Haider [Opens in a new window]  and
Malabika Sarker
Ipsita Sutradhar*
Affiliation:
Centre for Non-Communicable Diseases and Nutrition (CNCDN), BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh Centre of Excellence for Science of Implementation & Scale Up (CoE-SISU), BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Tahmina Akter
Affiliation:
Institute of Statistical Research and Training, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Mehedi Hasan
Affiliation:
Centre for Non-Communicable Diseases and Nutrition (CNCDN), BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh Centre of Excellence for Science of Implementation & Scale Up (CoE-SISU), BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Rajat Das Gupta
Affiliation:
Centre for Non-Communicable Diseases and Nutrition (CNCDN), BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh Centre of Excellence for Science of Implementation & Scale Up (CoE-SISU), BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
Hemraj Joshi
Affiliation:
Child Health Program Office, Lifeline Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal
Mohammad Rifat Haider
Affiliation:
Department of Social and Public Health, College of Health Sciences and Professions, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA
Malabika Sarker
Affiliation:
Centre for Non-Communicable Diseases and Nutrition (CNCDN), BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh Centre of Excellence for Science of Implementation & Scale Up (CoE-SISU), BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh Institute of Public Health, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
*
*Corresponding author. Email: ipsitaeva69@gmail.com
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Abstract

Overweight and obesity are considered major public health concerns all over the world. They have the potential to increase the risk of developing non-communicable diseases in reproductive age women, increasing their risk of pregnancy related complications and adverse birth outcome. This study was carried out to identify the trend of prevalence of overweight and obesity, along with their determinants, among reproductive age women (15–49 years) in Nepal. Data were taken from the nationally representative 2006, 2011 and 2016 Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys (NDHSs). Women were considered to be overweight or obese when their BMI was 23.0–27.5 kg/m2 or ≥27.5 kg/m2, respectively. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed, with significance taken at p<0.05. The prevalences of overweight and obesity both showed rising trends in women of reproductive age in Nepal from 2006 to 2016, particularly among those with no education, only primary education and poor women. The presence of overweight and obesity was found to be significantly associated with the sample women’s age, educational status, wealth index, place of residence, ecological zone, developmental region, number of household members, marital status and ethnicity. In 2016 one in every three women of reproductive age in Nepal was either overweight or obese. As overweight and obesity have detrimental effects on women’s health, the Government of Nepal, in collaboration with other government and non-government organizations, should take action to halt the rising trends in overweight and obesity in the country.

Keywords

Overweight and obesityWomenNepal
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 53 , Issue 2 , March 2021 , pp. 214 - 232
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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