Prevalence and Association of Obesity with Self-Reported Comorbidity: A Cross-Sectional Study of 1321 Adult Participants in Lasbela, Balochistan

Association of fatness with chronic metabolic diseases is a well-established fact, and a high prevalence of risk factors for these disorders has increasingly been reported in the third world. In order to incorporate any preventive strategies for such risk factors into clinical practice, decision-makers require objective evidence about the associated burden of disease. A cross-sectional study of 1321 adults from one of the districts of Balochistan, among the most economically challenged areas of Pakistan, was carried out for the measures of fatness and self-reported comorbidities. Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) were measured and demographic information and self-reported comorbidities were documented. The prevalence of obesity was 4.8% (95% CI: [3.8, 6.1]) and 21.7% (95% CI: [19.5, 24.0]), as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) international and Asia/Asia-Pacific BMI cut-offs, respectively. The proportion exhibiting comorbidity increased with increasing levels of fatness in a dose-response relationship (p value < .001). An interaction of weight status with gender was observed to produce a significantly (p = .033) higher comorbidity among overweight women (odds ratio (OR) = 6.1 [1.2, 31.7]) compared with overweight men (OR = 1.1 [0.48, 2.75], p = .762).