Dietary Intake Pattern Associated with General and Central Obesity Among Professional Drivers of Multan, Pakistan.

Abstract

Background: Obesity among professional drivers is a considerable issue. The study focuses on the dietary intake pattern of the professional drivers in order to assess their general and central obesity. Methodology| A cross-sectional study of 197 professional drivers was carried out for public transport and loader vehicles. Convenient sampling technique was adopted for data collection. Dietary pattern of the drivers and its association with their body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference (WC) were focused. Along with descriptive statistics and percentages, chi-square test and two-sample t-test were used to analyze the data. Results| The mean BMI of the participants was 25.48 (+4.21) Kg/m2 and WC was 93.48 (+ 11.01) cm, respectively. There is significant association between dietary pattern and obesity among the professional drivers (χ2 = 7.90, p-value< 0.05 for general obesity and χ2 = 8.13, p-value < 0.01 for central obesity). Majority of the drivers regularly eat three times a day and they eat mostly outside their home indicating one of the major factor of obesity (both general and central). Conclusion| The study with professional drivers reveals that dietary intake behaviour is associated with obesity and the professional drivers should be careful about their dietary pattern especially while taking meals outside their homes.