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Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Prevalence of overweight and obesity, and associations with socio-demographic factors in Kuwait
BMC Public Health, Vol.21(1), pp.1-13
2021
PMID: 33827711
Abstract
Background
Kuwait is amongst countries in the Gulf region with high income economy. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), one in five adults in the Gulf region is obese. This study sought to evaluate the prevalence and magnitude of association between overweight, obesity, central obesity, and socio-demographic factors in Kuwait.
Methods
A population-based cross-sectional survey of diabetes and obesity in Kuwait – part of the Kuwait Diabetes Epidemiology Program – was conducted between 2011 and 2014, targeting adults aged 18–82 years using the WHO STEPwise approach to non-communicable disease surveillance. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated to classify overweight and obesity, and waist circumference (WC) used to express central obesity. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate relationships between socio-demographic factors, overweight (25.0–29.9 kg/m2), obesity (≥30.0 kg/m2) or central obesity (WC ≥ 80 cm women; WC ≥ 94 cm men).
Results
Records for gender (56% Men), age, BMI, governorate, and nationality existed for 4901 individuals. Mean age and BMI were 43 years and 30 kg/m2, respectively. Non-Kuwaiti nationals were more prevalent than Kuwaitis (76% vs 24%). Prevalence rates for overweight, obesity and central obesity were 40.6% (95%CI: 38.4–42.8%), 42.1% (95%CI: 40.0–44.3%) and 73.7% (95%CI: 71.7–75.6%), respectively. The youngest age group (18–29 years) had rates of 38.2% (95%CI: 29.2–47.7%), 27.2% (95%CI: 19.0–36.7%) and 49.9% (95%CI: 40.6–59.1%) for overweight, obesity and central obesity, respectively. In covariate-adjusted analyses, the odds of being overweight was 26% greater for men than for women. Conversely, women had a 54% (95%CI: 19–99%) and 7-fold (95%CI, 5–10-fold) greater odds of obesity/central obesity, respectively, than men. Greater educational attainment, physical activity, and non-Kuwaiti status were associated with lower odds of obesity/central obesity. History of smoking, elevated blood pressure, higher income, being married, greater age and female sex related to greater odds of obesity/central obesity.
Conclusion
Overweight was greater in men, obesity greater in women. Overweight and obesity prevalence were high in young adults aged 18–29 years, a significant public health concern. Efforts to integrate mandatory physical education to the school curriculum and promoting the creation of recreation spaces/parks to promote physical activities, will play a vital role in the early prevention of overweight/obesity in Kuwait.
Details
- Title
- Prevalence of overweight and obesity, and associations with socio-demographic factors in Kuwait
- Authors
- Victor M Oguoma (Corresponding Author) - University of CanberraNeil T Coffee - University of CanberraSaad Alsharrah - University of CanberraMohamed Abu-Farha - Dasman Diabetes InstituteFaisal H. Al-Refaei - Dasman Diabetes InstituteFahd Al-Mulla - Dasman Diabetes InstituteMark Daniel - University of Canberra
- Publication details
- BMC Public Health, Vol.21(1), pp.1-13
- Publisher
- BioMed Central Ltd.
- Date published
- 2021
- DOI
- 10.1186/s12889-021-10692-1
- ISSN
- 1471-2458
- PMID
- 33827711
- Copyright note
- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
- Data Availability
- The raw dataset analysed in this study is not publicly available. It can be provided on reasonable request to Dasman Diabetes Institute through the corresponding author and in line with the provisions of the ethics committee.
- Grant note
- Dasman Diabetes Institute
- Organisation Unit
- Thompson Institute
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991121852402621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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