Browsing by Author "Ngowi, Restituta"

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Association between weight gain, dietary practices and sociodemographic attributes among post-partum women in Arusha Urban, Tanzania
(INNSpub, 2024-07) Ngowi, Restituta; Raymond, Jofrey; Hancy, Adam; Martin, Haikaeli
Overweight and obesity among women of reproductive age are a concern of public health significance. In Tanzania, various cultures perceive post-partum period as a delicate period where women participate in various habitual and traditional rituals as a way to protect themselves and their newborns. Currently, there is minimal information on the magnitude of post-partum overweight and obesity. A prospective health facility-based study using a multistage sampling is implemented to determine the magnitude of overweight and obesity among post-partum women six to twelve weeks after childbirth and their associating factors among Arusha Urban. The findings demonstrate an association between participants’ sociodemographic characteristics such as age, marital status, education level, number of children, physical activities, contraceptive use, occupation and post-partum dietary practices and weight gain. Less than 50% of respondents achieved minimum dietary diversity (40.9%). The consumption of dark green leafy vegetables was significant (p < 0.01) to minimum dietary diversity, likewise to other fruits and vegetables; legumes, nuts and seeds; and eggs (p < 0.01). Overweight and obese participants were 54.3% at six weeks and 59.1% at 12 weeks. During pregnancy, 25.2% had recommended weight gain while 60.9% and 13.8% had inadequate and excessive weight gain respectively. The results show that gestational weight gain, maternal age, exposure to overweight messages, and minimum dietary diversity were significant with post-partum increase in BMI. The research suggests improving nutrition education, individual counseling, screening and routine monitoring of women’s nutrition status at service delivery points and in the community.
Determinants of Weight Gain Among Postpartum Women in Arusha-Urban, Tanzania
(NM-AIST, 2025-06) Ngowi, Restituta
Overweight and obesity among women of reproductive age are a concern of public health significance. Currently, there is minimal information on the magnitude of postpartum overweight and obesity in Tanzania. The present study sought to establish the prevalence of postpartum overweight and obesity, its association with dietary patterns and sociodemographic attributes in an urban setting of Arusha region. A longitudinal study using a multistage sampling is implemented to determine the magnitude of overweight and obesity among post- partum women. A total number of 247 women were randomly recruited while attending their routine postnatal care services from three health facilities which were: Ngarenaro, Kaloleni and Moivaro health centers between March 2022 and June 2022. The study used a quantitative approach to examine the relationship between postpartum overweight and obesity, dietary patterns and sociodemographic attributes. The study used semi structured questionnaire for data collection and food consumption was measured by using 24-hours dietary recall. The analysis used IBM SPSS Version 25, where measures of central tendency for description of some social demographic data was conducted. The Pearson chi-square test to compare weight gain (BMI) with independent and dependent variables and Ordinal logistic regression to assess association between study variables. The study shows that prevalence of overweight and obesity at both six- and twelve-weeks post-partum women was high (56% and 59% respectively). A significant relationship between age and BMI was observed at six and twelve weeks (p<0.01). Odds of being obese or overweight versus in normal BMI are 1.6 and 1.7 times greater at six and twelve weeks, respectively, than those who met their minimum dietary diversity (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively). The research results demonstrated an association between participants’ sociodemographic characteristics, postpartum dietary practices and weight gain. The study recommends that dietary diversification and participation in physical activities at all period of reproductive cycles (pre-pregnancy, during pregnancy and post-partum) is necessary.