Rana Muhammad Akhtar Khan, Maaz Ahmad.
To assess the public awareness about obesity among adult populace of Lahore.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;4(4):520-2.

Objectives: To explore the level of awareness about obesity among general population and to formulate the strategies to improve the awareness. Design: A cross sectional study Place and duration: Community health camp in slum area of Lahore 2006 Patients and methods: A total of one hundred participants were interviewed. The structured questionnaire was filled at the spot to obtain sociodemographic information after taking verbal informed consent. Height, weight, pulse, blood pressure were recorded. Chi Square test was used as test of significance. P-value was set at 0.05 and confidence level at 0.95. Results: A total of one hundred (100) participants were interviewed. Overall frequency of obesity in the study population was twenty percent (20%) The prevalence of hypertension increased with increasing age and body mass index (p< 0.05). Thirty five percent (35%) could define obesity and this awareness was significantly associated with educational level (p<0.05). Lack of physical activity, card playing and televisionization was observed in sixty percent (60%) of participants while thirty three percent (33%) were overweight (p< 0.05). Seventy percent were having meals outside and snacks. Conclusion: High frequency of obesity, hypertension, lack of physical activity, unhealthy nutrition, and faulty dietary habits were observed in the study population. Emphasis on health education and use of electronic media is recommended to improve the public awareness of the risk factors and warning trends of the obesity.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com