Prevalence and associated risk factors for obesity in Jalalabad city – Afghanistan

Peer review under responsibility of Alexandria University Faculty of Medicine.

Available online 16 January 2015

Figures & data

Figure 1 Graphic distribution of obesity categories by sex.

Table 1 Demographic and behavioral characteristics of study participants.

Variables	Categories	Number (%)
Age in years (missing values = 92)
	25–34	444 (41.6)
	35–44	298 (27.9)
	45–54	203 (19)
	55 and over	123 (11.5)
Level of education (missing values = 11)
	Illiterate	822 (71.5)
	Literate	327 (28.5)
Monthly income (USD) (missing values = 649)
	⩽200	683 (89.3)
	⩾200	82 (10.7)
Smoking status (missing = 51)
	No	1039 (93.7)
	Yes	70 (6.3)
Mouth snuff use status (missing = 44)
	No	994 (89.1)
	Yes	122 (10.9)
Fruits serving days per week (missing = 85)
	<3 days	759 (70.6)
	⩾3 days	316 (29.4)
Vegetables serving days per week (missing = 16)
	<3 days	243 (21.2)
	⩾3 days	901 (78.8)
Kitchen oil (missing = 68)
	Liquid	243 (21.2)
	Solid	567 (51.9)
Strong physical activity (missing values = 65)
	No	703 (64.2)
	Yes	392 (35.8)
Moderate physical activity (missing values = 152)
	No	405 (40.2)
	Yes	603 (59.8)
Sedentary lifestyle in hours daily (missing values = 198)
	<3 h	627 (65.2)
	⩾3 h	335 (34.8)

Table 2 Anthropometric measurements and lipid profile of study participants by obesity status.

Parameters	Obese		Nonobese		P values
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Fruits serving daily	1.25	0.72	1.07	0.67	0.000
Vegetables serving daily	5.47	1.99	5.47	1.92	0.069
Meat serving weekly	1.89	1.26	1.67	1.32	0.018
Chicken serving weekly	1.81	1.31	1.54	1.25	0.016
Systolic blood pressure	130.13	22.21	119.55	19.15	0.000
Diastolic blood pressure	84.02	13.62	77.50	12.09	0.000
Triglycerides (mg/dL)	197.27	88.94	181.71	70.44	0.003
Total cholesterol (mg/dL)	203.55	41.29	196.29	42.66	0.012
HDL (mg/dL)	40.43	12.54	38.61	6.18	0.002
LDL (mg/dL)	124.52	33.95	120.40	32.05	0.065
BMI in kg/m^2	35.40	6.60	24.06	3.65	0.000

Table 3 Statistical analysis of risk/protective factors and obesity of study participants.

Variables	Categories	Obese	Non-Obese	Odds Ratios	CI 95%
Age in years
	25–34	91 (22.8)	309 (71.2)	1	Reference
	35–44	86 (31.4)	188 (68.6)	1.55	1.10–2.20
	45–54	66 (33.8)	129 (66.2)	1.73	1.20–2.53
	55 and over	25 (21.2)	93 (78.8)	0.91	0.55–1.50
Sex
	Female	220 (35.9)	393 (64.1)	2.94	2.18–3.97
	Male	73 (16)	384 (84)	1	Reference
Education status
	Illiterate	232 (31.2)	511 (68.8)	1.94	1.41–2.68
	Literate	60 (18.9)	257 (81.1)	1	Reference
Use of mouth snuff
	No	263 (28.5)	659 (71.5)	1	Reference
	Yes	23 (18.9)	99 (81.1)	0.58	0.36–0.93
Rice serving per week
	⩾3 serving	187 (24.6)	573 (75.4)	1	Reference
	<3 serving	56 (40.3)	83 (59.7)	2.06	1.41–3.01
Nature of job
	Nonphysical	232 (31.9)	496 (68.1)	2.57	1.81–3.65
	Physical	46 (15.4)	253 (84.6)	1	Reference
Central obesity
	No	70 (16.7)	350 (83.3)	0.36	0.26–0.49
	Yes	214 (35.7)	386 (64.3)	1	Reference
Diabetes Mellitus
	No	244 (25.8)	703 (74.2)	1	Reference
	Yes	49 (39.8)	74 (60.2)	1.9	1.29–2.81
Blood pressure
	No	162 (22)	576 (78)	1	Reference
	Yes	131 (39.5)	201 (60.5)	2.31	1.75–3.07
Triglycerides
	<150 mg/dL	80 (23.1)	266 (76.9)	1	Reference
	⩾150 mg/dL	213 (29.4)	511 (70.6)	1.38	1.03–1.86