Prevalence, knowledge and practices on prevention and management of overweight and obesity among adults in Dodoma City, Tanzania

by Safiness Simon Msollo, Gosbert Lukenku Shausi, Akwilina Wendelin Mwanri

Overweight/obesity is increasing leading to high rates of non-communicable diseases. The study aimed to assess the prevalence, knowledge and practices on prevention and management of overweight/obesity among adults in Dodoma region.

A cross- sectional research was conducted among 313 randomly selected adults aged 25–65 years. Face to face interviews were conducted to obtain demographic information, knowledge on preventing and managing overweight/obesity using a pre-tested questionnaire. Weight and height were measured following standard procedures and nutrition status was categorized using WHO criteria. Dietary intake was assessed using qualitative 24 hours recall to obtain dietary diversity score. Data was analyzed using the SPSS™ Version 20 to obtain descriptive and inferential statistics.

About 62.6% (n = 196) of the participants were females. The overall prevalence of overweight/obesity was 59.7% (n = 186) of which 28% (n = 88) were overweight and 31.3% (n = 98) obese. Obesity was three times higher among females (41.8% vs 13.7%) than males. Overweight/obesity was positively associated with female sex (Adjusted OR 2.34; 95%CI: 1.235–4.68; p = 0.001), low knowledge (Adjusted OR 2.15; 95%CI: 1.22–3.81; p = 0.008) and negatively associated with dietary diversity score (Adjusted OR 0. 452; 95%CI: 0.199–1.87; p = 0.03). About 76% of respondents reported that overweight/obesity is a result of consuming high energy (38.8%; n = 92) and high fat foods (27%; n = 63). More than half of the respondents reported to be insensitive with kind of foods they consume and for those who were sensitive, 64% do so to avoid diseases. Furthermore, 60% control their weight by doing physical exercises while 18% by both physical exercises and diet management. However, about 43% did not know foods exposing individuals to health problems.

High prevalence of overweight/obesity was observed and significantly associated with female sex, low dietary diversity and knowledge on overweight/obesity prevention. This creates a need to improve knowledge on prevention of overweight/obesity.