An epidemiological evaluation of predictors of overweight and obesity in Garhwal region of Uttarakhand

INTRODUCTION: Now a day, obesity has become a chronic disorder affecting the larger population than any other disease in the world, which made its presence felt first in the Northern Hemisphere, and has now taken a pandemic look affecting practically almost all the countries of the globe. METHOD: A cross sectional study with a sample size of 632 was carried out. Multistage stratified random sampling and “Kish” method was applied for selection of study area and selection of study subjects (21-60 years). WHO STEPS for NCD Risk Factor Surveillance, was used to gather the necessary data. Percentage, Chi square, & logistic regression analysis was done and significant level was taken at p < 0.05. RESULTS: As per Asia Pacific classification 16.0% & 33.4% of subjects while as per WHO classification 24.5% & 8.9% of subjects were found to be overweight and obese respectively. It was nearly 2 times higher in urban males. Central obesity was more commonly observed in urban subjects as compared to rural. At risk Waist hip ratio was recorded in 55.9% and high Weight height ratio was recorded in 66.8% of total subjects. All the predictors showed higher percentages in females of urban area and increased with the rise in age. CONCLUSION: The present study reveals that, there is high prevalence of overweight and obesity in the study population. Certainly, there has been a considerable shift in their dietary and lifestyle profile. there appears to be an urgent need to develop suitable health strategies as well as intervention programmes for combating the prevalence of overweight and obesity.