Interaction between the place of residence and wealth on the risk of overweight and obesity in Bangladeshi women

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of overweight and obesity in women has increased significantly over the last few decades in Bangladesh, a rapidly urbanising developing country. However, little is known regarding the association between the interaction of the place of residence and household wealth with overweight and obesity, particularly in women from developing countries. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to find the association between the interaction of the place of residence and wealth with overweight and obesity among Bangladeshi women. METHODS: This study utilised data from the four Bangladesh Demographic Health Surveys conducted in 2004, 2007, 2011 and 2014 with a total of 54337 women aged 15–49 years. Multivariate logistic regression was used for the analyses. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight and obesity among women aged 15–49 years in Bangladesh has considerably increased from 9.96% in 2004 to 24.43% in 2014. The interaction between wealth and place of residence has been found to be associated with obesity. Urban wealthy and richest women were 4.23 (OR: 4.23, 95% CI: 1.25–14.34) and 5.99 (OR: 5.99, 95% CI: 1.91–18.74) times more likely to be obese compared to their rural counterparts in the period 2004. Urban richest were 2.94 times (OR: 2.94, 95% CI: 1.20–7.24) more likely to be obese against their rural counterparts for the survey year 2014. CONCLUSIONS: The place of residence is not associated with obesity, but its interaction with wealth is significant.