Overweight and Obesity among Type 2 Diabetic Patients at Nigist Elleni Memorial Hospital, Hosanna Town, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Non-communicable diseases, especially type 2 diabetes mellitus, are increasing at an alarming rate in Sub-saharan Africa countries, including Ethiopia. However, little is known about the nutritional status of type 2 diabetic patients and associated factors inlow-income countries like Ethiopia.
Objective: To assess the prevalence of overweight, obesity and the associated factors among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients at Nigist Elleni Memorial Hospital, Hadiya Zone, Southern Ethiopia, from February 1 to 28, 2017.
Methods: An institutional cross-sectional study was conducted on 420 type 2 diabetic patients from Nigisit Elleni Memorial Hospital. Anthropometric measurements and a pretested structured questionnaire were used to collect the data, and they were entered into EpiData Version 3.02 and analysed with SPSS Version 20. Descriptive analysis was done and results are shown using frequency tables. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify the factors associated with the outcome. Level of statistical significance was declared at p value less or equal to 0.05.
Results: Of the 407 study participants, 146 were found overweight/obese (35.9%, 95% CI: 30.8 - 40.5). Overweight /obesity was more common among study participants who were above 55 years old (AOR= 3.24, 95% CI: 1.74-6.06), who had been doing physical activity for less than 30 minutes per day (AOR= 2.31, 95% CI: 1.30-4.11), who had been with diabetes for three or more years [AOR =2.55, 95% CI: 1.48-4.40], and who had been up taking poor diet (AOR=2.98, 95% CI: 1.79-4.96).
Conclusion: The magnitude of overweight/obesity was very high, and the factors significantly associated with the overweight/obesity were older age, lack of enough physical exercise, and poor diet. The patients’ body weight determined the progression of the disease into complications. This shows a need to add health promotion and preventive programs such as dietary modification and physical exercise to the therapeutic programs for the disease.