Spatial Distribution of Underweight, Overweight and Obesity among Women and Children: Results from the 2011 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey

Kedir N. Turi, Mary J. Christoph and Diana S. Grigsby-Toussaint
Additional contact information
Kedir N. Turi: Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1206 S. Fourth Street, 80B Huff Hall, Champaign, IL 61820, USA
Mary J. Christoph: Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1206 S. Fourth Street, 80B Huff Hall, Champaign, IL 61820, USA
Diana S. Grigsby-Toussaint: Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1206 S. Fourth Street, 80B Huff Hall, Champaign, IL 61820, USA

IJERPH, 2013, vol. 10, issue 10, 1-15

Abstract: While undernutrition and infectious diseases are still persistent in developing countries, overweight, obesity, and associated comorbidities have become more prevalent. Uganda, a developing sub-Saharan African country, is currently experiencing the public health paradox of undernutrition and overnutrition. We utilized the 2011 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) to examine risk factors and hot spots for underweight, overweight, and obesity among adult females ( N = 2,420) and their children ( N = 1,099) using ordinary least squares and multinomial logit regression and the ArcGIS Getis-Ord Gi* statistic. Overweight and obese women were significantly more likely to have overweight children, and overweight was correlated with being in the highest wealth class (OR = 2.94, 95% CI = 1.99–4.35), and residing in an urban (OR = 1.76, 95% CI = 1.34–2.29) but not a conflict prone (OR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.29–0.78) area. Underweight clustered significantly in the Northern and Northeastern regions, while overweight females and children clustered in the Southeast. We demonstrate that the DHS can be used to assess geographic clustering and burden of disease, thereby allowing for targeted programs and policies. Further, we pinpoint specific regions and population groups in Uganda for targeted preventive measures and treatment to reduce the burden of overweight and chronic diseases in Uganda.

Keywords: obesity; Uganda; sub-Saharan Africa; spatial epidemiology; geographic information systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/10/10/4967/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/10/10/4967/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:10:y:2013:i:10:p:4967-4981:d:29440

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().