The Prevalence of overweight and obesity among employees in Babil Health Directorate

Abstract

Objective:  To estimatethe prevalence of overweight and obesity and determine the association of gender, age and Diabetes Mellituswith BMI among employees in the Babil Health Directorate.

Method: Cross-sectional survey of 280 employees randomly selected inthe Babil Health Directorate aged 20-65years during January 2017.

Result:in the sample of 280 participants, 60% were males and 40% were females. The mean for age was 41.2±9.4 years. The overall mean BMI was(29.42±5.08) kg/m² which is located  in the overweight category. The mean BMI of males was (28.8±4.4) kg/m² lower than that of females (30.4±5.7) kg/m². The study showed the mean BMI for diabetic persons were(29.2±5) kg/m² higher than that of non-diabetic(23.9±5.4)kg/m². The mean BMI difference statistically significant between male and female and there is statistically significant difference of the mean BMI between age groups.

Conclusions and Recommendations: According to this study, overweight and obesity in males and females should be regarded an epidemic health problem among adult age groups. Itneeds urgentimprovement in the education aboutlifestyle changes, especially healthy diet and physical activity.