Factors associated with overweight and obesity among working adults in Kuala Lumpur

The spiralling rise of obesity prevalence is alarming nationwide. Overweight/obesity will have a greater chance of getting NCDs including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and heart attack as well as cancer. This study aims to determine whether there is any association between sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, and work environment, with overweight/obesity among Malaysian working adults in Kuala Lumpur. A cross-sectional study design is carried out among Malaysian workers aged 18 to 64 years. The data were obtained through online administered questionnaires. In this study, 290 respondents were involved using convenient sampling. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association and odds ratio of overweight/obesity among working adults for each study factor, with a p <0.05 significance value. The prevalence of overweight/obese workers in this study was 24.8%. This study found that work-related factors such as working hours, work status, work shift, type of occupation, and type of work had no association with overweight/obesity among working adults, but certain sociodemographic characteristics and lifestyle factors were associated with overweight/obesity. It was reported that male workers (aOR: 3.465, 95% CI: 1.723, 6.968) who are married (aOR: 4.392, 95% CI: 1.853, 10.410) with sleep less than 7 hours (aOR: 2.752, 95% CI: 1.350, 5.611), and those who did not have breakfast every day (aOR: 2.46, 95% CI: 1.113, 5.437) were reported to be associated with increased odds of overweight/obesity among workers. Further research should be undertaken on other work condition factors like work stress, lifestyle factors such as diet quality, and specific job categories that contribute to an increase in BMI, especially among working adults in our country.

Text 122375.pdf Download (1MB) Official URL or Download Paper: https://ethesis.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/18572

Actions (login required)

View Item