Dietary Weight Loss Practice among Government Working Women Who Successfully Lose Weight in Malaysia

Abstract: Overweight and obesity is a public health concern. Previously, obesity was exclusive to developed country only but nowadays, it is on the rise in developing countries as well. The purpose of this study was to determine the pattern of dietary weight loss practice among Malaysian government working women who are working in selected public funded institutions in Malaysia. This cross-sectional study involved two phases; firstly 639 adult Malaysian working women were recruited and underwent weight loss screening process and secondly 120 working women identified from the screening process based on their experience of losing at least 10 % of their highest lifetime body weight, which is a criterion for successful weight loss. Simple random sampling method was used to select 4 ministries in Putrajaya vicinity, Kuala Lumpur and 25 schools in Bandar Baru Bangi. Data were collected via a survey using a set of self-administered questionnaire that includes socio-demographic characteristics, weight history and anthropometric measurements (weight, height, waist circumference, body fat). The study was conducted within one year duration from June 2011 to June 2012. The prevalence of successful weight loss among government working women was 18.8 % (120/639). The mean age of women who experienced successful weight loss in this study was 33.2±7.7 years old. Majority of these women were married (72.5%), of Malay ethnicity (96.7%), had 1.3±1.5 children and had college or university degree (79.2%). Eat more fruits and vegetable