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Attitudes of Bahraini women towards the menopause
– Reported, January 24, 2013
A sample of 420 women who attended a physical fitness program run by General Organization for Youth and Sport, was selected to study the association between obesity and some factors among adult females in Bahrain. Women were grouped into two categories, obese and non-obese, based on Body Mass Index (wt/ht2). The results revealed that age, education, employment, marital status, family size and practicing exercises before joining the fitness program have a statistically significant association with obesity, while ownership of cars, availability of housemaids, family history of obesity and meal patterns have no statistically significant association. There were no differences in source of nutrition information between obese and non-obese women. The study suggested that health education programs should focus on both sociocultural factors and health factors for preventing obesity in the community.
Obesity is considered as an established predictor of cardiovascular disease. In several populations, increase in BW is associated with an increased risk of morbidity and mortality from coronary heart disease. The socio-economic impact of obesity is mainly due to its association with a higher risk of coronary heart disease. It is likely that atherosclerosis develops against a background of obesity.
Reports indicate that the relationships between obesity and atherosclerotic risk factors decreases with age in healthy subjects.However, obesity may increase the atherosclerotic risk even at higher ages in diabetic patients.Therefore, patients’ education to help in weight reduction by means of life-style changes, supported by medical interventions or appetite suppressants is essential in order to decrease the risk of atherosclerosis.
Weight management significantly improves the lipid and non-lipid abnormalities of the metabolic syndrome, which is associated with reduced blood pressure.
In children early identification of obesity remain the crucial initial step in the management of obesity later on in life.
It is also reported that women who were health educated and were maintained on a lifestyle
enhancement awareness program, maintained a significant loss in BMI, and increased their high density lipoproteins and dietary readiness to monitor hunger and eating cues. Such women will reduce their risks for developing chronic diseases.
Obesity in women has been shown to be associated with indices predisposing to coronary heart disease.
Increase in the BMI is reported to be strongly associated with elevation in TRIG level and diabetes in women. It is also associated with an adverse effect on all major coronary heart disease risk factors.
In the primary care setting there is a strong need for increased public awareness about early identification and prevention of obesity, which will help in reducing the proportion of people with high lipid level that consequently increases the risk of acquiring cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, patient education is the cornerstone for any disease prevention. Since obesity and overweight are accompanied by unfavorable blood lipid patterns that increases the risk of acquiring coronary heart disease, excess BW is to be considered a major public health issue. There is a strong association between reducing BW and hence, the BMI with the decrease in a patient’s lipid pro?le.
CREDITS:
http://ipac.kacst.edu.sa/
Faisal A. Alnasir, FRCGP, PhD, Emad M. Masuadi, BS, MSc.
http://baywood.metapress.com/
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