Determinants of overweight and obesity among Bangladeshi diabetic women of reproductive age

BACKGROUND: Several reproductive disorders with overweight and obesity are now known to be associated with insulin resistance. The study was aimed to assess the proportion and determinants of overweight and obesity among diabetic women of reproductive age. METHODS: This cross-sectional analytic study was conducted among 888 diabetic women of reproductive age attending the out-patient department (OPD) of the central hospital of the Diabetic Association. Body Mass Index (BMI) was used to assess the general obesity. Waist Circumference (WC), Waist-Hip Ratio (WHR) and Waist-Height Ratio (WHtR) were used to assess central obesity. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of overweight was 22% (95% CI 19-24) and that of obesity was 48% (95% CI 45-51). Prevalence of central obesity by waist circumference was 77%, by waist-hip ratio was 99.9% and by waist-height ratio was 89%. Overweight and obesity were higher in the age group of 45-49 years (49%) and 35-44 years (24%) respectively. On Pearson’s correlation analysis, BMI and WC were significantly correlated with age (r = 0.135, p = 0.001; r = 0.162, p = 0.001) and income (r = 0.151, p = 0.001; r = 0.087, p = 0.009) respectively. WHR was also correlated with income (r = 0.094, p = 0.005). Moreover, WHtR was significantly correlated with age (r = 0.139, p = 0.001), income (r = 0.069, p = 0.04) and duration of diabetes (r = 0.073, p = 0.03). On binary logistic regression analysis, BMI was significantly associated with age, income and management of diabetes by Oral Hypoglycemic Agent (OHA) (p < 0.05). WC was significantly associated with age, income and management of diabetes by OHA and insulin (p < 0.05). Where, WHR was significantly associated only with duration of diabetes (p < 0.05). WHtR was significantly associated with age (p < 0.05), management of diabetes by OHA (p < 0.05) and insulin (p < 0.05) in this analysis. CONCLUSIONS: A high prevalence of both overweight and obesity exists in diabetic women of reproductive age in Bangladesh and it seems to be associated with increasing age, income, duration of diabetes, and use of oral hypoglycemic agents.