Association Between Anthropometric Measurements and Dietary Habits in a Young Adult Female Population in Selected Areas in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka

Obesity and abdominal obesity are becoming major public health problem in certain countries. Causes for obesity are multi-factorial; among them various dietary factors play an important role. The main cause of obesity‐related deaths is cardiovascular disease, for which abdominal obesity is a predisposing factor [1]. Abdominal obesity is defined as Waist to Hip Ratio (WHR) above 0.90 for males and above 0.85 for females [2]. Body Mass Index (BMI) is a parameter that is useful in assessing obesity, overweight and malnutrition. The study aimed to assess the association between anthropometric measurements and the dietary habits in a female population of two study areas. A cross-sectional study was conducted separately at Hungama and Hiththatiya-Middle areas within Hambantota and Matara districts of Southern province of Sri Lanka. 304 healthy females between 20-50 years of age were selected by systematic random sampling method. For the calculation of BMI and WHR, height and weight, Waist Circumference (WC) and Hip Circumference (HC) of each individual were measured. The World Health Organization cut-off points were used to categorize BMI and WHR. An interviewer administered questionnaire was used to assess dietary habits. There is a statistically significant difference between the WHR and consumption of potato (p= 0.002) in Hungama as well as significant difference can be seen between WHR and consumption of red raw rice (p= 0.022) and white raw rice (p= 0.020) in Hiththatiya middle. Present study shows statistically positive relationship between the BMI and consumption of potato (p= 0.002) yogurt (p= 0.046) and fried food (p=0.033) in the total study population. Prevalence of obesity (6.6%) and abdominal obesity (47%) in whole population are higher with compared with other similar studies [3].