Double burden of malnutrition among women residing in tenements in a resettlement area, Kancheepuram district

Abstract

Introduction: The double burden of malnutrition is the co-existence of undernutrition along with overweight/obesity. The underweight can cause cognitive impairment, increase mortality, and over nutrition increases the chance of noncommunicable diseases like type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Women are vulnerable for early marriages, early conception, and so forth, which have an impact on their nutritional status. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of double burden of malnutrition among women residing in tenements in a resettlement area, Kancheepuram district. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted among women aged above 18 years residing in a tenement in a resettlement area, Kancheepuram district using a semi-structured questionnaire. The sample size was 211. Results: The median age of the participants was 44. 78; 2% were married; 30.8% belong to class III. Based on BMI 1.4% were underweight, 17.1% had normal BMI, 48.8% were pre-obese, and 19.9% were under obese stage 1. Based on the waist circumference, 23.7% were under high risk and according to the waist–hip ratio, 69.7% were under high risk. The prevalence of diabetes among the high-risk category for waist–hip ratio was higher (80.3%) with statistical significance. Conclusion: The national programs are concentrating more on the undernutrition. The importance of obesity as a risk factor for many noncommunicable diseases should be stressed in the nutritional programs thereby providing proper interventions to prevent them, which could be done by interlinking with NPCDCS.

Keywords

• double burden of malnutrition
• obesity
• over nutrition
• undernutrition
• women