RESEARCH ARTICLE
Weight Status Among Somali Immigrants in Sweden in Relation to Sociodemographic Characteristics, Dietary Habits and Physical Activity
Jenny Aronsen Torp1, *, Vanja Berggren2, Lena-Karin Erlandsson2, Albert Westergren3
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2015Volume: 8
First Page: 10
Last Page: 16
Publisher ID: TOPHJ-8-10
DOI: 10.2174/1874944501508010010
Article History:
Received Date: 04/03/2015Revision Received Date: 01/04/2015
Acceptance Date: 01/04/2015
Electronic publication date: 15/5/2015
Collection year: 2015
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background:
Immigrants are considered globally to be a vulnerable subpopulation. Vulnerable population groups have a higher prevalence of obesity than the general population. Despite increased immigration of people from Somalia to Sweden in recent years, little research has been undertaken about obesity and obesity-related health risks among Somali immigrants. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of overweight and obesity, as well as possible relationships between weight status and socio-demographic characteristics, dietary habits and physical activity (PA) among Somali immigrants in Sweden.
Methods:
This quantitative cross-sectional study included 114 respondents. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire covering socio-demographic factors, PA and dietary habits. Weight and height were also measured.
Results:
Of the 114 respondents, 50.9% had a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or above. In bivariate analysis, there were no statistically significant differences between those with a BMI below 25 and those with a BMI of 25 or more regarding PA or dietary habits. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that female gender and being married were associated with having a BMI of 25 or above.
Conclusion:
Socio-demographic factors may be more strongly associated with high BMI than PA or dietary habits among the targeted group and should be taken into account as an issue affecting Somali immigrants in Sweden that warrants further research.
