Overweight/obesity and its associated factors among undergraduate students at University of Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, 2024

Abstract

Introduction: Overweight/ obesity is characterized by abnormal accumulation of body fat that pose significant public health problems and associated with chronic complications. It affects people of all ages, regardless ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Overweight/ obesity is becoming common among university students globally. Nevertheless, there is no evidence on this regard in Ethiopian higher institutions. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess overweight/obesity and associated factors among undergraduate students at University of Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia. Materials and methods: Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted among 548 undergraduate students from April to May 2024 in University of Gondar. A multistage sampling technique was used to recruit study participants. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Body mass index (BMI) was computed, after measuring height and weight, the participants with BMI of 25 or above was considered as overweigh/ obesity. Data were entered into Epi-data version 4.6 and exported to STATA version 14 for analysis. Both bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis were done to identify associated factors with the outcome variable. In the multivariable analysis, variables with a p-value<0.05 were declared as significant. Results: The prevalence of overweight/obesity in this study was 16.6% (95%CI: 13.3, 19.6). Being female (AOR=1.81, 95% CI: 1.09, 3.00), physical inactivity (AOR=2.82, 95% CI: 1.46, 5.45) and daily fast food consumption (AOR=2.33, 95% CI: 1.03, 5.23) were factors significantly associated with overweight/ obesity. Conclusion and recommendations: The findings of this study revealed that one out of six undergraduate students in University of Gondar was overweight/obese. Being female, physical inactivity, and daily fast food consumption were significantly associated with overweight/obesity. Being female, daily fast food consumption and physical inactivity were significantly associated with overweight/obesity. It is recommended to promote healthy lifestyle practice, such as physical activity along with appropriate dietary choices that can reduce incidence of overweight/obesity.