| dc.description.abstract | Abstract:-Obesity has been widely recognized
as a major health hazard due to the increased
risk of heart disease, diabetes mellitus, and
cancers. BMI is the most popular method of
measuring obesity. However, waist
circumference is a commonly used measure to
evaluate the abdominal fat distribution. In Sri
Lanka, female sex is recognized to be associate
with overweight and obesity. Out of many
well-known etiological factors, everincreasing stress in life remains a poorly
understood cause of obesity. University
students are particularly subjected to
stressors and possibly have a higher incidence
of becoming obese and to have high abdominal
obesity. This study explores the prevalence of
overweight and obesity by Body Mass Index,
abdominal obesity by Waist Circumference,
and explores the association between the
degree of perceived stress measured by
perceived stress scale with BMI and waist
circumference among female students at the
University of Peradeniya. A total of 450, 3rdyear female students were selected randomly
to represent all the faculties of theUniversity
of Peradeniya. The Perceived stress scale; a
self-reporting questionnaire was
administered. Anthropometric measurements
were measured by using standardized
equipment. Visceral fat was measured by the
Bio Impedance analysis machine. Data were
analysed using SPSS 20 software. Prevalence
of overweight, obesity, and abdominal obesity
were 19.9%, 4.1% and 10.1% respectively.
There was a statistically significant
association between perceived stress level
and the waist circumference categories
(p<0.05). A similar trend was seen with BMI
even though it
is not significant (p>0.05). This study
demonstrates a low prevalence of obesity
among university students compared to the
previously reported 7.3% of prevalence
among the female population, Sri Lanka. The
impact of high perceived stress; a manageable
risk factor of obesity was recognized. | en_US |
