Socio-demographic determinants of overweight and obesity among mothers in South Africa


News Release: 28-Oct-2020

This article by Dr. Perpetua Modjadji is published in The Open Public Health Journal, Volume 13, 2020


Among the African countries, South Africa has significantly high prevalence rate of overweight and obesity, especially, among women, courtesy certain factors such as nutrition transition and socio-demographic factors. Currently, there is little information about the socio-demographic determinants of overweight/obesity, especially in the rural settings.

Dr. Perpetua Modjadji, serving in School of Health Care Sciences, Department of Public Health, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, South Africa, conducted research to identify and assess the socio-demographic determinants of overweight and obesity among mothers of primary school children living in a rural Dikgale Health and Demographic Surveillance System Site in South Africa. Interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to determine the socio-demographic factors.

The researcher concluded that socio-demographic and economic factors such as the decision-making authority of the spouse, income level and number of children have an impact on the health of women in South Africa in terms of the incidents of overweight and obesity. They recommend evidence based measures to address these factors in case policy makers wish to tackle the obesity epidemic among the female population specific to the region.

This article is open access (free-to-access). To download the article, please visit: https://benthamopen.com/ABSTRACT/TOPHJ-13-518

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