Determinants of Overweight Among Government Employees in Gibe District, Hadiya Zone, Southern Ethiopia: A Case Control Study

Background: Overweight in Africa have been attributed to demographic and nutritional changes that have resulted from urbanization, sedentary lifestyles and increased caloric intake without much physical activities. This has put populations at an increased risk of chronic diseases. The purpose of the present study was to assess determinants of overweight among government employees. Methods: A case control study was conducted among government employees in Gibe district. A total of 206 employees (51 cases and 155controls) were selected by using simple random sampling technique. Cases were whose body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 25kg/m2, whereas, controls were whose body mass index greater than or equal to 18.5kg/m2 and less than 25kg/m2. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data on risk factors of overweight. Data entry and cleaning were done by using Epi-data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. Bivariate and multivariable binary Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of overweight. Results: A total of 206 government employees were interviewed, male gender participants were 3.5 times more likely to develop overweight compared to females (AOR: 3.5; 95%CI: 1.044-11.957), old age group 45+ years responders were 6.3 times more likely to develop overweight compared to age group 20-34years (AOR: 6.3; 95%CI: 1.503-26.621) and employees who were low level physical activity 4.6 times more likely to develop overweight compared to those having high level physical activity(AOR: 4.6, 95%CI: 1.100-19.119). Conclusions and recommendation: Government employees of Gibe District had old age group, male gender and low physical activity that lead to increased risk of overweight. These are modifiable and non- modifiable risk factors; therefore increased awareness about physical activity will be effective control measure. Keywords: overweight, government employees, determinants DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/60-03 Publication date:March 31st 201