Level of Obesity and Socioeconomic Factors of a Group of Adult People of Bangladesh: A Factor Analysis Approach

The present study was based on data collected from 900 respondents of both urban and rural areas of Bangladesh. Among them 44.3 percent were overweight and obese. Majority (70.6%) were diabetic patients. With the increase in age significant increase in prevalence rate of obesity was observed. Higher prevalence rate was also observed among housewives. An upward shift of prevalence rate was observed among the higher educated respondents. Overweight and obesity were more among urban residents compared to rural residents and they were thirty two percent more exposed to overweight and obesity. Higher prevalence of obesity was noted among females. The proportion of overweight and obese was higher among them who did not do any physical labor. According to factor weights it was noted that the important factors for variation in the level of obesity were mainly gender variation followed by occupation, education and type of work.