ABSTRACT

This study assessed the prevalence of overweight and obesity among housewives in rural areas of Ohafia L.G.A Abia State. Multistage Sampling technique was used to select 226 housewives from 5 communities in the LGA. Data collection was by use of a structured question on socioeconomic characteristics, while physical activity pattern was determined with a modified WHO questionnaire, anthropometric measurements of weight, height, triceps, hip circumference and waist circumference were taken using standard procedures. Energy intake was assessed for l 0% of the subjects using 24 hour recall. Data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, means (SD), Chi-square test with SPSS Version 20.0. This study revealed that some of the housewives (42%) were within the age of 36-50 years, majority 77% were married, 47.8% completed their secondary education, 35% source their income from sale of farm produce, while 59.7% had income less than N18, 000. Most of them (41.6%) had been married for 11 to 15 years. More than half of them (56.6%) do not skip meals. The prevalence of overweight and obesity shows that 62.4% were normal, while 25.2% and 7.1% were overweight and obese, respectively. Mean energy intake of the housewives shows that carbohydrate was 432.25g, protein (138.87g) and fat (71.68g). Foods mostly consumed by the housewives in a daily basis include root and tuber (48.1%), meat and fish (63.0%) and beverages for 49.1% of the respondents. Among the risk factors for obesity and overweight, an association was observed between BMI and waist circumference (x=46.206; p=0.000), WHR (x=9.319; p=0.025) and triceps (x=50.390; p=0.000) and meal skipping (x=16.667; p=0.011). Therefore the key to maintaining a healthy body weight is sensible eating based on sound nutrition and an active lifestyle .