PREVALENCE OF OBESITY AND ITS ASSOCIATED RISK FACTORS AMONG ADULTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Background: Obesity has emerged as an international public health crisis because it leads to multiple chronic illnesses and decreases life quality. The growing obesity problem stems from three main factors which include people who do not exercise, those who eat poorly, and those who exhibit specific behavior patterns. Objective: The current research project sought to find out how common obesity was in the population while examining how various lifestyle factors which included physical exercise and food choices and alcohol drinking and tobacco use and family medical history affected obesity rates in adults. Methods: The research team conducted a cross-sectional study that involved 300 participants who belonged to the age group of 18 to 65 years. The researchers used a structured questionnaire to collect data which included information about the participants' demographic details and their lifestyle choices. The researchers used Body Mass Index (BMI) to categorize participants into two groups which included obese participants who had a BMI of 30 kg/m² or higher and non-obese participants who had a BMI below 30 kg/m². The researchers used SPSS version 26 for data analysis. The researchers used descriptive statistics to present study findings while Chi-square tests helped them determine how obesity risk factors interacted with each other. Researchers found that any result with a p-value below 0.05 indicated statistical significance. Results: The study found that 37.3% of the population suffered from obesity. Individuals who did not engage in physical activity showed a higher rate of obesity compared to other groups (p < 0.001). The study found that participants who often ate junk food and those who had a family history of obesity demonstrated a higher rate of obesity (p < 0.005). The researchers found that alcohol consumption and smoking both led to an increase in body mass index (BMI) among participants. The researchers used descriptive analysis to show that obese individuals maintained higher average body mass index (BMI) measurements than non-obese individuals across all lifestyle categories. Conclusion: The research results demonstrate that obesity develops from three changeable lifestyle patterns which include physical inactivity and poor dietary choices and alcohol drinking habits. The rising obesity epidemic requires early detection together with lifestyle change interventions as its most effective solution.