Abstract
Introduction Overweight and obesity are a threat to the public health following their association with noncommunicable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers. Despite this fact, the information on overweight and obesity, particularly in most developing countries, is still scarce to address the problem. This article partly addresses the gap through the findings of a cross-sectional survey that was conducted in Dodoma Region, Central Tanzania, to determine the prevalence and correlates of abdominal obesity among adults. Methods Using a community-based cross-sectional survey, data were generated from the participants who aged 18 years and above. Simple random sampling and Kish selection table techniques were used to get the sample who responded through a face-to-face-administered questionnaire. Waist circumference was measured using the guideline of the WHO protocol of measuring waist and hip circumference. Abdominal obesity is defined as a condition with waist circumference >102 cm for men and >88 cm for women. Prevalence was computed with a 95% confidence interval. Simple and multiple logistic regression models were fitted to identify the risk factors associated with abdominal obesity. Results A total of 840 respondents took part in the study. The overall prevalence of abdominal obesity was found to be 24.88% (209/840). The prevalence of abdominal obesity was significantly higher among women than men (35.14% vs. 6.89%, p < 0.0001) and higher among urban dwellers (33.56%) than their rural counterparts (15.56%). Correlates of abdominal obesity was found to be gender, marital status, place of residence, age, education level, and the time used in watching television. Conclusion This study revealed a high prevalence of abdominal obesity among the people living in the Dodoma Region. Increased age, urban residence, more time spent on television, less walking per day, and being ever married were all associated with having abdominal obesity in this population.
Highlights
Overweight and obesity are a threat to the public health following their association with noncommunicable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers
Urban residence, more time spent on television, less walking per day, and being ever married were all associated with having abdominal obesity in this population
Men were significantly older than women (47.82 ± 16.80 versus 44.97 ± 14.99, p 0.0117, respectively). e number of people living in urban areas was 435 (51.79%), while that of people from the rural area was 405 (48.21%)
Summary
Overweight and obesity are a threat to the public health following their association with noncommunicable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers. Research from African countries shows that overweight and obesity have been increasing rapidly over the past twenty-five years, in the urban settings [12]. If this is not controlled, it may take epidemic proportions in the very near future [13]. It had been emphasized earlier that local health information is very important for a country like Tanzania [24] Another limitation of the previous studies conducted in Tanzania is that they had much of their focus on generalized obesity [14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22]. While this has been their focus, the evidence available shows that abdominal/central obesity is the best predictor of diseases than the generalized obesity [25, 26]. is study observed this research opportunity by looking at the prevalence of abdominal obesity and its correlates among adults in Dodoma Region, Central Tanzania
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