| dc.description.abstract | Executive summary
Background: South Asians are known to be prone to the metabolic syndrome and the adverse effects of this. There are many hypotheses and explanations for the high vulnerability to obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease in this group of people. Genetics and lifestyle differences play important roles in the development of non-communicable diseases. In the prevention and treatment of these conditions emphasis is put on keeping a normal weight, by healthy diet and physical activity. However, in areas with food scarcity, overweight has traditionally been associated with being in good health and of high status, and the body ideal has been large. Pakistani women in Norway have a high prevalence of obesity and diabetes. These women have impulses both from the traditional culture in their country of origin and from the Norwegian culture. To be able to give appropriate and effective advices on weight reduction, it is of importance to know their body size preferences. Little research has been done on body size preferences in South Asian and Pakistani women.
Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate which body size preferences Pakistani women in Norway have, and whether these have an impact on their weight reduction behaviour, their body mass indexes and on the intake of foods rich in fats and sugar, vegetables, fruits and legumes.
Methods: The participants (Pakistani women aged 26 to 62), living in S©ªndre Nordstrand, Oslo, were part of the larger randomized controlled lifestyle intervention study InnvaDiab. The majority was first generation immigrants. Demographic data was collected and measurements of height, weight and waist circumference were done by trained staff. Bilingual interviewers filled a precoded questionnaire on diet and body size preferences at the time of inclusion by the local health centre. A figure rating scale was used to investigate the body size preferences. The women¡¯s views of which body size a healthy and a rich woman should have were studied. In addition theirs believes of the body sizes preferred by other people were explored. The diet was studied by food frequency questionnaire and weight reduction behaviour was reported by the stage in ¡°stages of change¡±, which is a construct of the Transtheoretical Model.
Findings: There was found a high prevalence of people with a BMI ¡Ã 25 (80%) and BMI ¡Ã 30 (39%). The BMIs did not vary with age, number of children, years in Norway, years of education, self-reported Norwegian skills and work status. The waist circumferences were smaller for those with higher education. On average the women linked body sizes depicting normal BMI to good health and richness, and believed that Pakistani women in Norway in the age of 45 preferred a body size with a BMI of 21 to 23. Most of the participants had a higher body size than the body sizes they preferred, and reported to be trying to reduce weight but not doing so regularly. Those trying to reduce weight were less likely to eat deep-fried and sweet foods, and had a more frequent intake of fruit and berries. The intake of vegetables, fast food and sugar was not affected by the stage in weight reduction behaviour.
Conclusion: The present study gives information on a field that has not been widely explored previously in Pakistani women living in Norway. This study should be an encouragement to investigate body size preferences more thoroughly. There is a need for qualitative studies on this issue. | nor |