Assessment of public awareness about body measurements among Fayoum population

Abstract

The prevalence of obesity is increasing world-wide. There was general agreement that BMI surveillance was an epidemiologic tool for the assessment of obesity in different populations. The aim of this study is to screen community awareness about body measurement, and to examine actual body weight with self-perception of body image. Methods: This study was a community-based survey conducted in Fayoum Governorate. We used multistage stratified random sampling to select the study household with a number of participants (582). We developed a self-administrated structured questionnaire. Anthropometric assessment weight, height and waist circumference were measured, and BMI was calculated. Results: Our results showed that the prevalence of obesity was 88.7% more in female than male. More than half of the participants knew their weight and height. Overall, 40.6% of women and 38.8% of men misclassified their own weight status by BMI. There was a statistical significant difference between know ing weight and height, and their accurate results (P = 0.000). Conclusion: Our results showed that the majority of the Fayoum population was obese. Implementation of health promotion and health education in the community should use effective nutrition education in the mass-media to raise awareness of appropriate body weight and healthy lifestyle.