Abstract
BackgroundOverweight and obesity are major public health problems worldwide, with projections suggesting a proportional increase in the number of affected individuals in developing countries by the year 2030. Evidence-based preventive strategies are needed to reduce the burden of overweight and obesity in developing countries. We assessed the prevalence of, and factors associated with overweight and obesity in selected health areas in West Cameroon.MethodsData were collected from a community-based cross-sectional study, involving the consecutive recruitment of participants aged 18 years or older. Overweight and obesity were defined according to the WHO classification. The statistical software R (version 3.5.1, The R Foundation for statistical computing, Vienna, Austria) was used for statistical analysis. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to assess independent factors associated with overweight and obesity, and obesity.ResultsRecords of 485 participants were included for analysis. The age and sex-standardized prevalence of overweight, obesity, and overweight and obesity were 31.1% (95% CI, 27.0–35.2), 18.9% (95% CI, 14.9–22.9), and 50.1% (95% CI, 45.7–54.6), respectively. In multivariable analysis, being female (adjusted OR [aOR] = 2.79, 95% CI = 1.69–4.63), married (aOR = 3.90, 95% CI = 2.23–6.95), and having secondary or tertiary education (aOR = 3.27, 95% CI = 1.77–6.17) were associated with higher odds of overweight and obesity, while current smokers had lower odds of overweight and obesity (aOR = 0.37, 95% CI = 0.16–0.82) when compared to their respective counterpart. Compared to their respective reference categories, being female being (aOR = 3.74, 95% CI = 2.01–7.30), married (aOR = 2.58, 95% CI = 1.37–5.05) and having secondary or tertiary education (aOR = 2.03, 95% CI = 1.00–4.23) were associated with higher odds of obesity after adjustments for confounding.ConclusionWe observed a high prevalence of overweight and obesity in this study. The odds of overweight and obesity was higher in females, married participants, and those with higher levels of education. Community-based interventions to control overweight and obesity should consider targeting these groups.
Highlights
Overweight and obesity are major public health problems worldwide, with projections suggesting a proportional increase in the number of affected individuals in developing countries by the year 2030
This study was conducted as part of the University of Bamenda Medical Students Association (UBaMSA) annual community health campaign – which sorted to provide free screening for major preventable conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and viral hepatitis
Prevalence of overweight and obesity The age and sex-standardized prevalence of overweight, obesity, and overweight or obesity (BMI > 25 kg/m2) were 31.1%, 18.9%, and 50.1% respectively, Table 2
Summary
Overweight and obesity are major public health problems worldwide, with projections suggesting a proportional increase in the number of affected individuals in developing countries by the year 2030. We assessed the prevalence of, and factors associated with overweight and obesity in selected health areas in West Cameroon. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that about two billion and 600 million adults worldwide were overweight and obese in 2014, respectively [6]. According to a meta-analysis by Ofori-Asenso et al 2016, almost half of Ghanaians were either obese or overweight [13]. They reported a prevalence of obesity and overweight of 25.4 and 17.1%, respectively. Being female, living in urban areas, being married, higher socioeconomic status, higher educational status, and physical inactivity have been associated with increased odds of being overweight or obese [11,12,13,14]
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