Abstract:

Background: Diabetes is a major disease burden in developing countries including Tanzania, largest number of diabetes cases in the world are associated with overweight and obesity. The reported prevalence of obesity in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) was 53.3%. Obesity and overweight pose a major risk for chronic diseases and are considered to be a strong risk factor for the development of T2DM.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of obesity among T2DM patients and knowledge on its prevention

Methodology: This cross sectional study design was carried out among diabetic adults’ patients attending outpatient clinic at Sekou Toure Regional Referral Hospital. Participants participated face-to-face interview and others were reading the questionnaire and answer it after reading and understanding the consent form. Obtained data were entered in Microsoft excel for cleaning, then transferred to SPSS for analysis. One hundred and forty seven T2DM patients were included in the study. Predesigned and pretested questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic profile, and patient's height and weight were measured, and body mass index (BMI) was calculated and categorized based on WHO, Statistics and analysis: Statistical analysis was done using the Chi-square test for categorical variables. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: The prevalence of generalized obesity among T2DM patients was 53.3%. Analysis showed that female gender and hypertension were significantly associated with generalized obesity, Physical inactivity were significantly associated with generalized obesity. The duration of T2DM showed no significant association with duration of DM.

Conclusion: Our study concluded that obesity is a highly prevalent comorbidity in diabetic patients. The combination of a low-calorie diet, increased physical activity, and behavioural therapy as the first-line intervention for weight loss should be stressed for the effective management of T2DM.