# Prevalence and Associated Factors of Overweight/Obesity Among Women in the Reproductive Age Group (15–49) in Gondar Town, Northwest Ethiopia, 2022: A Cross‐Sectional Study

## TL;DR

This study found that 21% of women aged 15–49 in Gondar, Ethiopia, are overweight or obese, with factors like late menarche and family planning use linked to higher risk.

## Contribution

The study provides new prevalence data and identifies local risk factors for overweight/obesity among reproductive-age women in Gondar, Ethiopia.

## Key findings

- The overall prevalence of overweight/obesity among reproductive-age women was 21%.
- Late age at menarche and higher parity were significantly associated with increased risk of overweight/obesity.
- Ever using family planning was also linked to a higher likelihood of being overweight or obese.

## Abstract

Overweight/obesity is increasing at an alarming rate throughout the world and has now become a global epidemic. According to a recent research report, the burden of obesity is increasing in developing countries; however, no significant reduction has been seen in developed countries over the past few decades. Furthermore, there is limited information about overweight/obesity. The main objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and associated factors of overweight/obesity among reproductive age women.

A total of 866 reproductive women participated in the study. The collected data were coded and entered into Epi‐Data version 4.6.0 and exported to STATA version 17 software packages for analysis. Binary logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with overweight/obesity among reproductive age women. Variables with a p‐value < 0.2 in the bivariate analysis was further fitted into multivariate analysis for controlling the possible effect of confounders, and finally the variables that were a p‐value of < 0.05 on the bases of odd ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was considered significantly associated with overweight/obesity and identified based on odds ratio (OR), with 95% confidence interval (CI) and p‐value (p < 0.05).

The study's response rate was 96% and the overall prevalence of overweight/obesity was 21% [95% CI: 18.00, 24.00]. Being parity [AOR = 3.75, 95% CI: 2.06, 6.81], parity (≥ 2) [AOR = 8.16, 95% CI: 4.63, 14.37], late age at menarche (≥ 14 years) [AOR = 1.65, 95% CI: 1.13, 2.41], and ever used family planning [AOR = 1.50, 95% CI: 1.01, 2.23] were factors significantly associated overweight/obesity.

In this study, overweight/obesity was high. Late age of menarche, parity, and ever using family planning were factors affecting overweight/obesity in reproductive age women. Healthcare workers should raise awareness among reproductive‐age women about the impacts of overweight/obesity.