Sedentary Habits and Obesity: The Role of TV, Unemployment, and White-Collar Work on Obesity in Reproductive-Aged Women in Bangladesh

IntroductionIn Bangladesh, overweight and obesity are increasingly alarming, especially among women. Thus, this paper aims to explore whether television watching, white-collar jobs, and unemployment are working as sedentary behavior to increase overweight and obesity in Bangladesh. Data and methodsWe utilized cross-sectional data from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, 2017-2018. The dependent variable of the study was the nutritional status of women using three different measures: body mass index (BMI), Asian body mass index (ABMI), and tri-ponderal mass index (TMI). The frequency of watching television (TV) and types of employment were the two predictors of overweight and obesity in this study. The Multilevel Ordered Logistic Regression Analysis was used in this study. ResultsWomen who have watched television at least once a week are more likely to have a BMI [≥]25 and become overweight (30.3%) and obese (9.3%) than those who did not watch TV at all (20.1% and 3%). This same pattern of BMI is discernible among unemployed women (28.7% and 8.2%) compared to women in agricultural work (16% and 2.9%). Professional women have the highest risk of being overweight and obese (35.4% and 10.9%). The pattern of overweight and obese is consistent for ABMI and PMI. However, these indicators (ABMI & PMI) report a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity than BMI. ConclusionIn this era of technology, TV watching, and other technology will increase with time. More and more women are engaging in white-collar jobs or looking for jobs. In these circumstances, policymakers need to focus on how this use of technology can decrease overweight and obesity among women. More studies need to be conducted to explore the effect of other sedentary behaviors and take steps based on those studies to reduce the increasing rate of overweight and obesity.