Beliefs about Causes and Consequences of Obesity among Women in Two Mexican Cities.
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Date
2012-09
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Abstract
Personal beliefs might be barriers to the prevention and treatment of obesity. To assess the beliefs about
causes and consequences of and possible solutions to obesity among 18-40 years old women in two Mexican
cities and to analyze the association with demographic variables, we developed a questionnaire and
assessed the women’s weight status. The questionnaire was applied at two outpatient healthcare centres
and assessed the responses by the Likert scale. Results were analyzed by demographics, using the chi-square
and Spearman correlations. One thousand one hundred adult women participated in the study. Mean age
was 27.8 years, and mean BMI (kg/m2 ) was 27.05. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 35% and
24% respectively. The most mentioned causes of obesity were eating oil and fat (4.1), fried foods (4.1), and
eating too much (4.00). The most reported consequences were diseases (4.1), discrimination (3.9), and early
death (3.7). The main solutions were physical activity (4.2), healthful eating (4.2), and personal motivation
(4.1). Age of participants higher than 30 years, living with a partner, having more than 6 years of education,
and having overweight and obesity were predictors of more knowledge about the causes, consequences,
and solutions. These Mexican women from low SES had reasonably good knowledge about the causes and
consequences of obesity. Although improving education might be beneficial to prevent obesity, changes in
environmental contingencies are also necessary to prevent this epidemic.
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Keywords
Beliefs, Causes, Obesity, Treatment, Mexico
Citation
Jiménez-Cruz Arturo, Escobar-Aznar Yolanda Martínez de, Castillo-Ruiz Octelina, Gonzalez-Ramirez Raul, Bacardí-Gascón Montserrat. Beliefs about Causes and Consequences of Obesity among Women in Two Mexican Cities. Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition. 2012 Sep; 30(3): 311-316.