Journal of Obesity & Eating Disorders

Exploring health obesity in Fiji

15^th International Conference on Obesity Medicine
October 30-31, 2017 Bangkok, Thailand

Adi Miriama Drauna

University of Tokyo, Japan

ScientificTracks Abstracts: J Obes Eat Disord

DOI: 10.21767/2471-8203-C1-005

Abstract

Diabetes and obesity are major public health problems in the Fiji Islands. Till now, policies, projects and research have rightfully targeted the areas of nutrition and physical inactivity to decrease obesity and then to control diabetes. Among such obese persons, metabolically healthy obese individuals do not present the complications commonly associated with obesity. In high and upper-middle income countries, its prevalence ranges from 2-51% among obese populations, but little is known about its prevalence and its sociodemographic factors in Fiji. This study aims to examine its demographic and adiposity predictors. Utilizing data from the NCD Risk Factor STEPS survey 2011 (n=2,688) that was conducted by the Ministry of Health in Fiji, a complex survey data analysis was done. In this study, metabolically healthy obese individual was defined as an obese individual who meets only one out of the four characteristics of metabolic syndrome recorded (waist circumference, fasting blood glucose, diastolic and systolic blood pressure). As a result, raised fasting blood glucose and obesity prevalence were found to be 28.8% and 30.7%. However, 61.7% of the obese group did not present raised fasting blood glucose. Prevalence of metabolically healthy obesity was 23.5% among the obese population and 7.2% overall. Waist circumference was the strongest independent predictor (OR 0.92 95% CI 0.89 �?�?�?¢�?�?�?�?�?�?�?�? 0.94; P=<0.001). One in four obese adults is metabolically healthy and they are at a lower risk of diabetes. Identifying such healthy adults can help improve the tailor-made interventions to obese adults in Fiji.

Biography

Drauna is currently a first year PhD student of International Health at the Universiy of Tokyo. She completed her Masters in Public Health at the University of Tsukuba in Japan. Her Masters thesis investigated the trends of sociodemographic risk factors of diabetes in Fiji. Her Bachelors degree in Public Health was completed in Fiji in 2012; her thesis was on the unhealthy food advertisements on the radio which contributed to a larger study on mass media and junk food in Fiji.