Factors Influencing the Abdominal Obesity of Employees in Large-sized Manufactories in the Eastern Region

Abstract

The purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate factors influencing abdominal obesity among employees in large enterprises in the Eastern region of Thailand. A two-stage random sampling technique was used to recruit 370 employees in two large enterprises in the Eastern region of Thailand (Chonburi workplace is 243 employees, Rayong workplace is 127 employees). Data were collected via quality-analyzed questionnaire with alpha efficiency between 0.73-0.94. Statistical analyses were per-formed by using percentages, means, standard deviations and step-wise multiple regressions. It was found that 59.50% of employees had abdominal obesity; they had moderate eating habits and stress management problem (59.5% and 53.2% respectively). Those who had the low level of physical activity and self-response were 45.10% and 43.50% respectively. The employees who were more likely to walk or ride on bicycles between the buildings had lower risk of abdominal obesity than those who did not (OR=2.88; 95%CI=1.11-7.48). The other factors including female (β=0.193), physical activity habits (β=-0.165) and age (β=0.151) were found to be significantly associated with employees’ abdominal obesity (p<0.005). According to the adjusted R² of 0.099, the influencing factors identified in the study could predict up to 9.9% of abdominal obesity. The finding suggested that health promotion through physical activity among women and the high age groups should be focused in order to reduce the abdominal obesity.