Journal of Obesity & Eating Disorders

Dietary patterns and perceptions among South African adults - A cross-sectional study you are what you eat: Fact or fiction

INTERNATIONAL OBESITY, BARIATRIC AND METABOLIC SURGERY SUMMIT AND EXPO
August 23-24, 2017 | Toronto, Canada

Romona Devi Govender

University of United Arab Emirates, UAE

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Obes Eat Disord

DOI: 10.21767/2471-8203-C1-003

Abstract

Introduction: By 2014, globally at least 600 million of a total of 1.9 billion overweight adults were obese and 41 million under the age of 5 years were either overweight or obese. Methods: A sample of 100 participants with a body mass index (BMI) above 25kg/m2 was asked to complete a questionnaire which included socio-demographic data and perceptions about their weight. The study was approved by the Biomedical Research Ethics Committee at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The participants were recruited from a peri-urban general practice situated in the north of Durban, South Africa. Results: Their ages ranged from 18 to 76 years. 82 percent were females. Almost 71% had a BMI which fell into the Class II and III WHO classification and 25.8% between 18 to 30 years, is either overweight or obese. The results showed that 85.5% were unhappy with their weight with 96.8% knowing that obesity is a health risk and 87.1% recognizing the role of diet in the development of obesity. Fast food intake (p =0.023) and vegetable intake (p=0.026) per week were associated with increasing BMI (multiple linear regression, adjusted R square =0.353) while variables such as age, gender, income, educational status, consumption of high fat foods and soft drinks were not statistically significant. The correlation analyses showed a positive correlation (Pearson correlation of .348) between the daily frequency of high fat intake and the number of daily vegetable servings which is statistically significant. A statistically significant negative correlation (Pearson correlation of -.442) between the frequencies of weekly vegetable intake with the daily intake of high fat consumption was observed. Conclusion: The major drivers of obesity include environmental, behavioral and physiological factors. Thus weight loss intervention programs are complex to implement particularly when they need to be directed at contextspecific and social determinants in an under-resourced setting like South Africa where diseases like HIV and TB are being treated simultaneously.