title: An Epidemiological Study of Overweight and Obesity Among Women in an Urban Area of North India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Obesity is a complex, multi-factorial chronic disease. Overweight and obesity are the fifth leading risk for global deaths.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To find the prevalence and risk factors for obesity in women aged 20-60 years in Ludhiana city.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present study is a community based cross sectional study carried out in an urban area of Ludhiana among women aged 20-60 years. Among the study population of 324 women, a pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was used to record the socio-demographic and anthropometric profile of women. Chi square test and logistic regression was used to find the association of obesity and hypertension with socio-demographic variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 12.7% and 29.6% respectively. Obesity was found to be more common among middle-aged Punjabi housewives belonging to upper socio-economic strata. There was strong association between overweight/obesity and hypertension.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Sangeeta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Girdhar
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Sarit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Anurag
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chaudhary
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Priya
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bansal
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Mahesh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Satija
keywords: BMI; Obesity; hypertension; marital status; overweight