Risk of Obesity Among Female School Teachers and its Associated Health Problems

Abstract

Obesity is considered to be a major health problem throughout the world. Factors contributing to obesity include increased intake of calorie dense foods and physical inactivity. Teachers represent one of the most important, large and growing sector of workforce in many countries. The objective of the present study was to determine risk of obesity among female school teachers along with various factors and health problems associated with it. A descriptive cum cross-sectional survey was conducted among 500 female school teachers. Anthropometric measurements such as height, body weight and waist circumference were measured. BMI was calculated and blood pressure was recorded. Results indicated that 43.2% of the teachers had Grade I obesity, 20.4% had Grade II obesity and 6.6% had Grade III obesity thereby indicating obesity as a significant health problem among teachers. Factors such as age, waist circumference, intake of junk foods, physical inactivity and BMI were significantly associated with obesity. In addition, health issues such as hypertension and arthritis was also found to be associated with obesity. The study therefore recommends the need to promote healthy lifestyle for school teachers that can be achieved through appropriate health education and interventional measures.

Prevalence and Factors Associated With Overweight or Obesity Among Primary and Secondary School Teachers In Moshi Municipality, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.

“…The ndings from this study have also shown a signi cant difference in the prevalence of overweight and obesity between female teachers and their male counterparts, where female teachers were 43% more likely to be overweight or obese. The same observation was reported by other studies from Tanzania 24,26 , Ghana 11 , Nigeria 18,21 , Malaysia 17 , South Africa 8,12,20 and India 16 . This may be explained partly by the nature of female's anatomy.…”

“…The high prevalence of overweight or obesity among primary and secondary school teachers found in this study (72.7%), was comparable to other studies conducted among teachers, where it was 74.3% in Malaysia 17 , 70% in India 16 , and 85% in Cape Town, South Africa 8 . The observed similarities in all these studies may be explained partially by the fact that they were all conducted in urban populations and that they all recruited mainly female participants.…”

“…The striking observation from all the discussed studies above, is they all report higher prevalence of overweight or obesity among teachers than the general population in their respective countries. While it was 72.7% versus 26% in the current study (Tanzania), it was 74.3% versus 60% in Malaysia 17 , in India it was 70% versus a previous range of 30-39% 16 and in Brazil it was 47.2% versus 15.8% 19 . The observed trend underlines the high risk that teachers possess and some of these may be explained by factors as observed in the current study.…”

“…Whereas Tanzania STEPS survey recruited a diverse population representative of the entire Tanzanian population. Also, the current study had higher representation from females (69%), who have been shown to have a higher risk for overweight or obesity than males 24,25,16,26 .…”

An Evaluation of Obesity and Hypertension among Primary School Teachers in an Urban Region of South-South Nigeria

“…Teachers as a professional group have been shown to experience many risk factors that may predispose them to developing both obesity and hypertension [11]. Teaching is a mentally stressful occupation.…”