Prevalence of central obesity and its associated risk factors among adults in Southeast Ethiopia: A community-based cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Obesity and overweight are known public health problems that affect populations across the world. These conditions have been associated with a wide range of chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and cancers. In Ethiopia, the literature regarding the burden of central (abdominal) obesity is scarce. This study aimed to fill this gap by assessing the prevalence and risk factors associated with central obesity among adults in Ethiopia. Methods From May to July 2021, a community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted on a sample of 694 adults aged ≥18 years in administrative towns of Bale zone, Southeast Ethiopia. Multi-stage sampling followed by systematic random sampling was employed to identify study participants. Waist and hip circumferences were measured using standard protocols. The World Health Organization STEPS wise tool was used to assess risk factors associated with central obesity. Bi-variable and multi-variable binary logistic regression were used to identify factors associated with central obesity. Adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) have been reported to estimate the strength of associations. Results The overall prevalence of central obesity using waist circumference was 39.01% [(95% CI: 35.36–42.76; 15.44% for men and 53.12% for women)]. Multi-variable binary logistic regression analysis revealed that female sex (AOR = 12.93, 95% CI: 6.74–24.79), Age groups: 30–39 years old (AOR = 2.8, 95% CI: 1.59–4.94), 40–49 years (AOR = 7.66, 95% CI: 3.87–15.15), 50–59 years (AOR = 4.65, 95% CI: 2.19–9.89), ≥60 years (AOR = 12.67, 95% CI: 5.46–29.39), occupational status like: housewives (AOR = 5.21, 95% CI: 1.85–14.62), self-employed workers (AOR = 4.63, 95% CI: 1.62–13.24), government/private/non-government employees (AOR = 4.68, 95% CI: 1.47–14.88), and skipping breakfast (AOR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.23–0.9) were significantly associated with central obesity. Conclusions Abdominal obesity has become an epidemic in Bale Zone’s towns in Southeastern Ethiopia. Female sex, age, being employed were positively associated with central obesity, while skipping breakfast was a protective factor.

Prevalence and factors associated with abdominal and total obesity among low-income urban population of Kiambu County, Kenya

“…Our findings are similar to those of a study done in Tunisia (Traissac et al, 2015) which showed a much higher prevalence of abdominal than total obesity at 60% and 37% respectively in the same study population. On the contrary, studies measuring abdominal obesity using WC only in Southwest Iran and Southeast Ethiopia recorded a prevalence of 28.6% and 39.01% respectively, much lower than the prevalence from our study (Ghaderian et al, 2019), (Tekalegn et al, 2022).…”

“…Similarly, studies conducted in Ethiopia revealed that respondents who were of a better economic status were more likely to be obese compared to those of low economic status [28,42].…”

“…This study found that higher monthly income was associated with increased odds of being obese. Similarly, studies conducted in Ethiopia revealed that respondents who were of a better economic status were more likely to be obese compared to those of low economic status [28, 42]. The increased risk could be attributed to access to sugary and fatty diet together with a sedentary lifestyle among people with better social-economic status.…”

Dietary diversity and Anthropometric status of students at universities in Dodoma and Morogoro regions, Tanzania

“…These findings are in line with the study done by (Mogeni & Ouma, 2022) who reported females embraced greater dietary diversity in their eating habits compared to males. The possible variations in the obesity prevalence could be justified by the use of different cutoff values for waist circumference (Tekalegn et al, 2022). Moreover, the findings of this study corroborate with (Molla et al, 2020)mthe odds of being centrally obese was 9.62 times higher among female study participants compared to their counterparts.…”

Major dietary patterns of community dwelling adults and their associations with impaired blood glucose and central obesity in Eastern Ethiopia: Diet-disease epidemiological study

“…This will be needed to decrease the incidence of metabolic risk factors before an overt metabolic disease (cardiovascular or diabetes) happens. A higher prevalence of central obesity (39%) was reported in southern Ethiopia [ 45 ].…”