Risk factors of overweight and obesity among females of Bahawalpur City

Background: Obesity specially among females is on rise and results in different chronic diseases

---

Objective: To assess the prevalence and risk factors for obesity in adult female population of Bahawalpur city

---

Material and Methods: Study design: Cross sectional, descriptive study. Place and Duration: Satellite Town, Bahawalpur from 1[st] September, 2012 to 31[st] March 2013. On the basis of obesity prevalence of 35-40% among females, sample size of 400 was calculated, with 5% margin of error and at 95% confidence interval. The study subjects included 15-64 years aged females and were selected by simple random method. Data was collected by face to face interview using a structured questionnaire and analyzed by using SPSS version 17

---

Results: Out of total 400 females, 48% were obese and highest level of obesity was found in 26-35 year age group. Significant association was found between walk [p<0.001], work out [p<0.001], calories consciousness [p<0.05] and BMI

---

Conclusion: It is the time to educate the people on healthy life style especially about different types of foods, calorie awareness and importance of physical activity to maintain the weight within normal limits