Overweight and obesity in adults aged 20-74 in southern Iran

There is paucity of data on actual weight patterns among Iranians. It was the purpose of this study to provide estimates of prevalence of overweight and obesity among adult population aged 20-74 in southern Iran.

In a cross-sectional study during January 1993 to September 1994, anthropometric measurements, including height and weight, were obtained in a randomly selected sample population (n = 3378), aged 20-74 years, and permanently resident of the southern province of Fars in Iran. Body mass index (BMI) (kg/m2) was calculated for each individual, and the results were categorized for each sex by age groups of 5 years.

The mean body mass index was 22.8 +/- 4.6 (+/- SD) for mean and 23.6 +/- 6.6 (+/- SD) for women. Men had their highest BMI in their late forties and women did so in their early fifties. Twenty-five percent of men and 30% of women were overweight (BMI = 25-30). Eight percent of women and 2.5% of men were obese (BMI > 30).

Contrary to the commonly-held belief that overweight and obesity are generally uncommon in Iran, this study revealed that both are prevalent in the adult population of southern Iran and both are more frequent among women than men. The frequency for either overweight or obesity in Iran is expected to increase further as life becomes increasingly sedentary unless early intervention by promotion of healthy life styles and provision of nutritional information to the public is implemented.