Inequalities in overweight and obesity among reproductive age group women in India: evidence from National Family Health Survey (2015–16)

Abstract

Background In developing nations like India, fertility and mortality have decreased, and diseases related to lifestyle have become more common. Females in India are more prone to being overweight and obese than their male counterparts, more specifically in affluent families than the poor ones. Understanding the overweight and obesity trend may help develop feasible public health interventions to reduce the burden of obesity and associated adverse health outcomes. Methods The study utilizes the fourth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), 2015–16. Descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate analysis was used to check the significant relationship between overweight and obesity, and other background characteristics. Income-related inequality in overweight and obesity among women was quantified by the concentration index and the concentration curve. Further, Wagstaff decomposition analysis was done to decompose the concentration index, into the contributions of each factor to the income-related inequalities. Results Overweight & obesity among women had a significant positive association with their age and educational level. The odds of overweight and obesity were 57% more likely among women who ever had any caesarean births than those who did not [AOR: 1.57; CI: 1.53–1.62]. The likelihood of overweight and obesity was 4.31 times more likely among women who belonged to richest [AOR: 5.84; CI: 5.61–6.08] wealth quintile, than those who belonged to poor wealth quintile. Women who ever terminated the pregnancy had 20% higher risk of overweight and obesity than those who did not [AOR: 1.20; CI: 1.17–1.22]. The concentration of overweight and obesity among women was mostly in rich households of all the Indian states and union territories. Among the geographical regions of India, the highest inequality was witnessed in Eastern India (0.41), followed by Central India (0.36). Conclusion The study results also reveal a huge proportion of women belonging to the BMI categories of non-normal, which is a concern and can increase the risks of developing non-communicable diseases. Hence, the study concludes and recommends an urgent need of interventions catering to urban women belonging to higher socio-economic status which can reduce the risks of health consequences due to overweight and obesity. Development nutrition-specific as well as sensitive interventions can be done for mobilization of local resources that addresses the multiple issues under which a woman is overweight or obese.

Decomposing the rural-urban disparities in overweight and obesity among women of reproductive age in Nigeria

“…Specifically, factors such as wealth status, educational level, media exposure, and contraceptive use were identified as significant contributors to these disparities. This finding aligns with previous studies conducted in the field, indicating the consistent influence of socioeconomic factors on the observed differences between rural and urban communities [ 37 , 47 ].…”

“…One of the independent variables of primary interest in this study includes household wealth status, which is approximated using the wealth quintile as a proxy. Wealth status is a crucial social determinant of health and is often associated with various health outcomes, including overweight and obesity [ 37 ]. It plays a significant role in examining socioeconomic disparities and intersects with other social determinants of health, such as gender, race, educational level, and environmental factors, influencing health outcomes in complex ways [ 17 , 38 ].…”

Prevalence of metabolic disorders among women in reproductive age group in hilly rural area of North India

“…When we compare the BMI of participants of our study with that of a nationally representative sample of NFHS-4 analysed by Kumar et al . [ 21 ] it is seen that the proportion of overweight and obese in our study is close to 40% compared to 25% in NFHS-4, though the age range is 15–49 years in their analysis and 15–44 years in our study. The proportion of underweight came out to be lower in our study at 10% compared to 19% in NFHS-4 data analysis by Kumar et al .…”

Impact of prepregnancy body mass index on adverse pregnancy outcomes: analysis from the Longitudinal Indian Family hEalth cohort study

“…General lack of preventive care and accessibility to health care in India is a major barrier to providing women in their reproductive prime with the care needed to enter a pregnancy in optimal health. An upward trend in obesity among reproductive-age individuals in India 105 should be taken as a call to action and underscores the need to design intervention programs focused on obesity screening, prevention, treatment, and management. Given that we demonstrated a link between obesity and adverse pregnancy outcomes, we can expect this impact to amplify if obesity continues to rise.…”