Prevalence of Obesity among a Group of Kirkuk Women
Abstract
An obese person's body suffers from the accumulation of fat, which has a detrimental effect on their health. A person is considered obese when their body weight is at least 20% more than it should be. Overweight is when the Body Mass Index (BMI) is between 25 and 29.9. While a BMI of 30 or more indicates obesity. The research goals are to detect how prevalent obesity is among Kirkuk women and its relation with education level, exercise, and other factors. The type of study is cross sectional study. The area chosen for this study was Kirkuk city, samples taken randomly from schools among teachers, primary health care visitors, and Azadi teaching hospital (mainly relatives of patients). The women were aged between 18-66 years old, and we exclude pregnant females. The data was collected using questionnaires. We measured height by tape-measure and weight by scales, and then we calculated their BMI using the following equation: BMI = weight in Kg/height in meter squared. Our results showed that 40% of the women were overweight, 23% were obese, and 12% were morbidly obese. Only around 25% of the sample was of normal weight. In our study, we found the prevalence of overweight and obesity increases with age. This finding might be related to a decrease in physical activity as people get older. Concerning the type of clothes worn by the women, it was found that those women who wore skirts and trousers quickly noticed changes in their body weight. We found a significant relationship between the increased number of glasses/cups of tea drunk during the day and the prevalence of obesity and overweight. Lactating women were found to be more overweight and obese in this study, but this was not significant. In conclusion, this study mainly has found that normal-weight was less than one-quarter of the sample studied. Type of clothes worn inside the home and older age were the main factors associated with obesity. Despite being a small study in 2 clinics, and the findings cannot be generalized, it still shows there is a problem and should immediately be addressed. More data about this problem needs to be collected and studied. Large studies are required to evaluate the prevalence of obesity in Kirkuk city. Encourage the community to change their eating habits and to exercise as they get older. Educate the community about the negative effects and complications of obesity. The study detected that most of the participants in the study were overweight or obese.
Keywords: obesity, overweight, women, Kirkuk.
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