Socio-economic inequalities in overweight and obesity among women of reproductive age in Bangladesh: a decomposition approach

BACKGROUND: Overweight and obesity of women is a growing concern all over the world. However, an understanding on the socio-economic inequalities in overweight and obesity of women received little attention, especially in the context of Bangladesh. Therefore, the objective of this study was to measure the inequality in overweight and obesity among women of reproductive age in Bangladesh as well as to explore the effect of various socio-economic factors on this inequality. METHODS: This study used data from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2014 which is a nationally representative data. The concentration index of overweight and obesity was applied to measure the extent of socio-economic inequality. Finally, the concertation index was decomposed in order to understand the contribution of different socio-economic variables in inequality in overweight and obesity of women. RESULTS: This study included a total of 16,624 women of reproductive age. The study found that the prevalence of overweight was about 29% and the rate of obesity was approximately 11%. The value of concentration index for overweight and obesity was 0.37 (p < 0.001). This study also observed that about 52% inequality was explained by household’s wealth status followed by watching television (25%), husband/partner’s educational status (around 7%), women’s educational status (about 5%), place of residence (approximately 4%). CONCLUSIONS: This study found notable level of overweight and obesity among the women of Bangladesh. Various socio-economic factors like wealth status, education levels of women and partners, urban settings, women watching television predominantly contributed to the inequality in overweight and obesity among women of reproductive age. Therefore, the study suggests adopting necessary interventions targeting the women of higher socio-economic status to reduce the risk of life-threatening problems caused by overweight and obesity.