The role of built environment, personal, religious, cultural, and socioeconomic factors in increasing overweight and obesity rate in women vs men: a case study of Karachi, Pakistan

ABSTRACT

Among many Asian countries, Pakistan is also facing an increase in overweight/obesity rate as an epidemic. This research explores how various built environment, personal, religious, cultural, and socioeconomic factors work differently for both sexes to contribute to increasing the Body Mass Index of female adults in all three Socioeconomic Statuses of the megacity Karachi, Pakistan. 210 random samples of 20 years or older male and female adults were selected, and the sample data, from survey questionnaires, was analyzed through Ordinary Least Square Regression in SPSS V.25. The results confirm that low-density neighborhoods, higher fast-food restaurant density, accessibility (walking distance in no. of min) to parks/playgrounds, household size, obesity running in the family, health condition of an individual, and discouraging behavior by others are positively associated with higher BMI. Whereas less junk food consumption in a week and availability of pleasant surroundings where people prefer walking are negatively associated with higher BMI. Although religious factors were not found connected to higher BMI, cultural, built environment, and religious factors combined were responsible for the choice of Physical Activity in both sexes. Walking was the most common whereas cycling was the least common PA in females in all SES.

KEYWORDS:

• Built environment
• gender
• socioeconomic classes/status
• obesity/overweight
• health disparities
• physical activity

Acknowledgments

I convey my sincere gratitude to several people who helped me and guided me throughout the survey and research process including my Ph.D. advisors Dr. Timothy Murtha Dr. Christopher Silver Dr. Emre Tepe and Ms. Sanjeeda Shaheen the resource person who supervised data collection process from all the neighborhoods and all the study participants for their participation and timely cooperation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/23748834.2022.2155290.

Notes

1. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/pk.html.

2. A male counterpart either husband brother son or a blood relative.

3. Mosque/Masjid/Madarsa - A ‘Mosque’ is a designated religious space specifically for Muslims (men). All Muslims (12 years and above) are required to perform mandatory prayers five times a day at specific times, and it is obligatory for men to pray at the mosque or masjid. In some cultures, women also become part of the congregation, especially during Ramadan and Friday prayers.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes on contributors

Afsheen Sadaf

Afsheen Sadaf received her Ph.D. in Urban & Regional Planning from the School of Landscape Architecture and Planning, College of Design, Construction & Planning at the University of Florida in August 2022. Currently, she is a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the Department of Landscape Architecture & Planning at the University of Florida. Her research interests include Health & Built Environment, Health Inequalities (SES & Gender); Social and Diversity Planning/Social Inclusion/Equity; Sustainability and Environment; Coastal Resilience, and GIS. During her Ph.D. program, she was serving as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of Urban & Regional Planning at University of Florida. She has presented her research at various platforms including ACSP (Association of Collegiate School of Planning) and has earned the prestigious ACSP-FWIG Marsha Ritzdorf Award in 2020 for this case study research.