Bhattarai Prabina, Vaidya Abhinav, Tylleskär Thorkild
Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, Centre for International Health, University of Bergen, Norway.
Department of Community Medicine, Kathmandu Medical College, Kathmandu, Nepal.
PLOS Glob Public Health. 2025 Mar 19;5(3):e0004360. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0004360. eCollection 2025.
Overweight, obesity, and physical inactivity have become more common in Nepal. The prevalence of overweight/obesity is higher among women than men, while the prevalence of physical activity is not well studied. This study aimed to understand the prevalence of overweight/obesity and physical inactivity among women of reproductive age in Eastern Nepal. We conducted a community-based cross-sectional study among women of reproductive age (18-49 years) in the Bhadrapur municipality, a sub-urban area of Eastern Nepal, in August-December 2019. We purposely selected six urban wards and approached 350 women using the probability proportional to size (PPS) sampling. In each ward, simple random sampling was used to identify participants. Height, weight, socio-demographic, and socioeconomic variables were collected, and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Both a pedometer and a global physical activity questionnaire (GPAQ) were used to assess physical inactivity. Logistic regression in SPSS was conducted to identify the factors associated with overweight/obesity and physical inactivity. Out of 330 women, 41.9% were overweight/obese (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2). Increased age (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.052; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.023-1.082) and being unemployed/housewives were positively associated with being overweight/obese. The prevalence of physical inactivity (≥ 5000 steps/day) was 13.9%. Manual workers had lower odds (aOR 0.282; 95% CI 0.080-0.989) of being physically inactive than unemployed women/housewives. The correlation between GPAQ and pedometer to measure physical activity was 0.35 (r² = 0.12). The high prevalence of overweight/obesity among women needs to be addressed. Women aged 40-49 years were at higher risk of being overweight/obese. Unemployed women/housewives were at a greater risk of being both overweight/obese and physically inactive. A huge variation in the physical activity levels was observed, which suggests a need for more studies on physical activity in a larger population with a broader age group and longer assessment periods.
超重、肥胖和缺乏身体活动在尼泊尔变得越来越普遍。女性中超重/肥胖的患病率高于男性，而身体活动的患病率尚未得到充分研究。本研究旨在了解尼泊尔东部育龄妇女中超重/肥胖和缺乏身体活动的患病率。2019年8月至12月，我们在尼泊尔东部郊区巴德拉布尔市对育龄妇女（18 - 49岁）进行了一项基于社区的横断面研究。我们特意选择了六个城市选区，并使用按规模大小成比例概率抽样（PPS）方法接触了350名妇女。在每个选区，采用简单随机抽样来确定参与者。收集了身高、体重、社会人口统计学和社会经济变量，并计算了体重指数（BMI）。同时使用计步器和全球身体活动问卷（GPAQ）来评估身体活动不足情况。在SPSS中进行逻辑回归分析，以确定与超重/肥胖和身体活动不足相关的因素。在330名妇女中，41.9%超重/肥胖（BMI≥25 kg/m²）。年龄增加（调整后的优势比（aOR）为1.052；95%置信区间（CI）为1.023 - 1.082）以及失业/家庭主妇与超重/肥胖呈正相关。身体活动不足（每天步数≥5000步）的患病率为13.9%。体力劳动者身体活动不足的几率（aOR为0.282；95%CI为0.080 - 0.989）低于失业妇女/家庭主妇。GPAQ与计步器在测量身体活动方面的相关性为0.35（r² = 0.12）。妇女中超重/肥胖的高患病率需要得到解决。40 - 49岁的妇女超重/肥胖的风险更高。失业妇女/家庭主妇超重/肥胖和身体活动不足的风险更大。观察到身体活动水平存在巨大差异，这表明需要在年龄范围更广、评估期更长的更大人群中对身体活动进行更多研究。
