Body Mass Index and its Predictive Factors in Rasht, Iran

Objective (s): 

Body mass index (BMI) is one of the major contributors to the spread of non-communicable diseases that it is affected by various factors such as demographic variables and living environment. The aim of this study was to investigate body mass index and its predictors in Rash, Iran.

This was a cross sectional study that performed on 1,000 residents of 5 neighborhoods in Rasht, 2017. Data were collected using a questionnaire including residents’ characteristics and living environment indicators derived from the Foxton and Jones Social Capital questionnaire. Every participants’ height and weight were measured. Simple and multivariate linear regression using SPSS v.20 was used for data analysis.

The prevalence of overweight and obesity in the study population was %55.5 and the results showed that age (B = -0.031, P <0.023), not having children (B = -2.466, P <0.001), not having non-communicable diseases (B = -1.016, P<0.003) and duration of residence in residential environment (B = 0.172, P<0.040) were independent predictors of BMI increasing.

Due to the high prevalence of obesity and overweight in different age groups, identifying predictive factors in populations with different culture is very important. Indeed, preventive steps should be taken in healthchr('39')s macro policymaking.