IS OVER-WEIGHT AND OBESITY ASSOCIATED WITH HIGH FREQUENCY OF CO-MORBID CONDITIONS?

OBJECTIVE To find the association of over-weight and obesity with high frequency of co-morbid conditions STUDY DESIGN Cross Sectional Study SAMPLE SIZE This study is conducted at Ziauddin Hospital Out Patient Department. A sample of 200 over weight and obese clients were included by simple random sampling to find out the relation of co-morbidities with overweight and obesity. OUTCOME MEASURES: Patients were categorized as overweight and obese by calculating their Body Mass Index (BMI). RESULTS Out of 200 patients it is was found that there is an increase in secondary complications such as depression, hypertension, stroke, cardiac diseases, knee pain, and kidney disease. The statistics also showed that generally overweight and obese clients had a higher of smoking and alcohol consumption. There is a marked association of co-morbidities conditions within clients with higher BMI than normal. CONCLUSION This study provides a comprehensive estimate of the strong association of co-morbidities attributable to overweight and obesity using tandardized and consistent definitions and methodologies. Our findings confirm that high BMI will carry a profound health burden and will have a significant impact on health expenditures.