Risky Behaviors and Central Obesity: National Ecological Study in Central Java

Abstract

Based on National Basic Health Research 2018, the prevalence of central obesity in Indonesia was 31% and it had increased successively by around 12,2% between 2007 to 2018. This increasing number contradicts the target from the WHO to decrease the prevalence of obesity in 2025 until it is not higher than the prevalence in 2010. That increasing national prevalence of central obesity was in line with Central Java with increasing around 7,7% from 2007 to 2018. This condition may lead to many non-communicable diseases as well as cardiovascular diseases (CVD) related. So, it needs to be addressed by controlling the modifiable factors by analyzing the correlation between risky behavior and central obesity among people aged ≥15 years old in Central Java. This was an ecological study using city/district in Central Java as a unit analysis. Then, secondary data from Central Java Province Basic Health Research 2018 was used. The collected data was analyzed by Pearson/Spearmen test. Based on the correlation analysis, it showed that there was no correlation between consuming sweet food (p=0.375; r=0.157), fatty food (p=0.060; r=0.326), instant food (p=0.588; r=0.096), and carbonated drink excessively (p=0.465; r=0.130). It also in line with the low consumption of fruit and vegetables (p=0.673; r=0.075) with central obesity in Central Java. Moreover, the high frequency of smoking (p=0.039; r=-0.355) had a negative moderate correlation with central obesity. It was in line with low physical activity (p=0.012; r=0.427) and had a positive moderate correlation with central obesity. So, based on the result of this study, there were two risky behaviors correlated with central obesity, such as smoking behavior and physical activity.