Psychosocial Problem of Obesity: A Study among Overweight, Obese and Morbidly Obese Women in India

Praween Kumar Agrawal, Population Council

Paper examines psychosocial problems among overweight, obese and morbidly obese women in Delhi, India from a follow-up survey of 325 women systematically selected from NFHS-2. Along with anthropometric measurements, information on day-to-day problems, body image dissatisfaction, sexual dissatisfaction, stigma and discrimination were collected. Data shows that 75% overweight women, 80% obese women and 95% morbidly obese women were unhappy with their body image. Morbidly obese and obese women were five times (aOR 5.29, 95% CI 2.02-13.81) and two times (aOR 2.30, 95% CI:1.20-4.42), respectively, as likely to report day-to-day problems; 12 times (aOR 11.88, 95% CI 2.62-53.87) and three times, respectively, as likely (aOR 2.92, 95% CI 1.45-5.88) to report dissatisfaction with body image; nine times (aOR 9.41, 95% CI 2.96-29.94) and three times (aOR 2.93, 95% CI 1.03-8.37), respectively, as likely to report stigma and discrimination, than overweight women. Findings call for imperative measures for public health interventions in obesity care in India.