Abstract

KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE REGARDING OBESITY IN GENERAL POPULATION OF LUCKNOW

Abhay Srivastava, Babu Hondekar, Dheeraj Singh, Pratap Shankar*, Sachin Tutu, Preet Lakhani, Amod Kumar Sachan, Rakesh Kumar Dixit

ABSTRACT

Background: The rising level of obesity has been called the most urgent challenge to public health for the 21st century. While many social institutions should be involved in addressing this problem, though prevention and self awareness have an important role in identifying and managing obesity. Aims & Objective: To assess and compare the knowledge, attitudes and practice regarding obesity among general population of Lucknow. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional survey has recruited a randomly selected sample of population of Lucknow. A structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 300 participants. The questionnaire had four main parts: personal data, knowledge, attitude and practice. Results: This KAP screening indicates that 78% of the subjects have poor knowledge about obesity. 5% have good knowledge. This indicates that by and large the population may be at a high risk of obesity due to the following reasons: (1) Lack of knowledge about the disease (2) No awareness about the risk factors. Conclusion: The general population needs to trained and make them aware regading obesity and its prevention and management.

Keywords: Obesity, Knowledge, Attitude, Practice.