Prevalence and associated factors of abdominal obesity in the South Asian population: findings from nationally representative surveys

Aim This study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors of abdominal obesity in the South Asian population. Methods The nationally representative surveys including adults aged 18–69 years from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka were used, and 26,758 adults were included in the study. Abdominal obesity was defined as a waist circumference >90 centimeter (cm) in men and >80 cm in women. Logistic regression was conducted to find out the associated factors of abdominal obesity. Results The overall prevalence of abdominal obesity ranged from 30.1% in Nepal to 53.3% in Afghanistan. Increased age, female gender, and overweight/obesity increased the odds of abdominal obesity in all five South Asian countries. Never smoking and insufficient fruit and vegetable intake had lower odds of abdominal obesity in certain countries, e.g., Sri Lanka (never smoking), Afghanistan and Bangladesh (insufficient fruit and vegetable intake). Conclusions The high burden of abdominal obesity is a public health problem in South Asian countries. Health promotion programs should target high risk groups (i.e., the elderly population, female gender, and overweight/obese) in order to prevent and control the rising burden of abdominal obesity.