Overweight, obesity and physical inactivity among women of reproductive age in Eastern Nepal: a cross-sectional community-based study

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.