Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices Regarding Body Weight Management Among Overweight and Obese Female Participants in Tertiary Care Hospitals, Peshawar

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices among Overweight and Obese Female Participants

Authors

  • Aurang Zeb Department of Nursing, Rehman College of Nursing, Peshawar, Pakistan
  • Yasmeen Afzal Department of Nursing, Rehman College of Nursing, Peshawar, Pakistan
  • Umair Ullah Department of Nursing, Rehman College of Nursing, Peshawar, Pakistan
  • Kalsoom Rahman Department of Nursing, Rehman College of Nursing, Peshawar, Pakistan
  • Umar Farooq Department of Nursing, Rehman College of Nursing, Peshawar, Pakistan
  • Ijaz Ahmad Department of Nursing, Rehman College of Nursing, Peshawar, Pakistan
  • Nabila Raza Department of Nursing, Rehman College of Nursing, Peshawar, Pakistan
  • Shahida Bibi Department of Nursing, Rehman College of Nursing, Peshawar, Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54393/nrs.v6i2.213

Keywords:

Overweight, Obesity, Weight Management, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice

Abstract

The primary health problem in the world is overweight and obesity. It contributes to morbidity and mortality and hurts health, such as increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and other non-communicable diseases. Objectives: To explore the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) of overweight and obese women about Body Weight Management. Methods: The study design was a quantitative, analytical, cross-sectional study conducted in September-November 2025 at two tertiary care hospitals in Peshawar. The sample size was calculated through public health voice cross sectional sample size calculator, which was 312. Data were collected from female participants, including both OPD and admitted, through a pre-designed, structured questionnaire via convenient sampling techniques. Data were analysed by using SPSS version 27.0. Results: The study revealed positive knowledge, neutral attitudes, and moderate practices in managing body weight. The study showed a significant association between knowledge categories and education, income, and BMI, with p-values of 0.009, 0.003, and 0.048, respectively. There were significant associations between attitudes and income (p-value of <0.001), as well as obesity related diseases and a p-value of 0.008, respectively. Conclusions: Overweight and obese female participants have good knowledge regarding body weight management; however, they have neutral attitudes and moderate practices. The findings showed that socioeconomic factors influence weight management behaviors. To improve attitudes and encourage healthy behaviors, health education initiatives should be reinforced.

References

AlOmeir O, Almutairi F, Alrouleh MM, Baeissa M, Asdaq SM, Gilkaramenthi R et al. Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Toward Obesity and Their Determinants: A Cross-Sectional Study. Frontiers in Public Health. 2026 Mar; 14: 1768449. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1768449.

Shi W, Ma C, Zhang G, Xu Z, Liu X, Li Y et al. Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Body Weight Management among Patients with Overweight or Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Study. Frontiers in Public Health. 2025 Jul; 13: 1615478. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1615478.

Zeb A, Froelicher ES, Pienaar AJ, Dhamani K. Effectiveness of Community-Based Obesity Intervention for Body Weight, Body Mass Index, and Waist Circumference: Meta-Analysis. Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research. 2024 Jan; 29(1): 16-22. doi: 10.4103/ijnmr.ijnmr_120_22.

Jaganathan R, Ramachandran V, Ravindran R, Suganthan S, Ibrahim NA, Hisham MA et al. Preclinical Students’ knowledge, Attitude and Practice Towards Obesity and Overweight. Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine. 2019 Jan; 19(1): 41-6. doi: 10.37268/mjphm/vol.19/no.1/art.35.

Iqbal MP, Sajjad T, Iqbal SP, Khurram M. Metabolically Healthy Obesity (MHO) and Factors Influencing Its Prevalence in a Population in North-West Lahore. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences. 2025 May; 41(5): 1452. doi: 10.12669/pjms.41.5.11694.

Bajaj SS, Zhong A, Zhang AL, Stanford FC. Body mass Index Thresholds or Asians: A Race Correction in Need of Correction? Annals of Internal Medicine. 2024 Aug; 177(8): 1127-9. doi: 10.7326/M24-0161.

Ashraf T, Sultana R, Nadeem A, Lashari MN. Obesity from Clinical Evaluation to Management Local Perspective. Pakistan Heart Journal. 2023 Dec; 56(4): 248-9. doi: 10.47144/phj.v56i4.2704.

Islam AS, Sultana H, Refat MN, Farhana Z, Kamil AA, Rahman MM. The Global Burden of Overweight-Obesity and Its Association with Economic Status, Benefiting from Steps Survey of WHO Member States: A Meta-Analysis. Preventive Medicine Reports. 2024 Oct 1; 46: 102882. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2024.102882.

Koceva A, Herman R, Janez A, Rakusa M, Jensterle M. Sex-and Gender-Related Differences in Obesity: From Pathophysiological Mechanisms to Clinical Implications. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2024 Jul; 25(13): 7342. doi: 10.3390/ijms25137342.

Ayesh H, Nasser SA, Ferdinand KC, Carranza Leon BG. Sex-Specific Factors Influencing Obesity in Women: Bridging the Gap Between Science and Clinical Practice. Circulation Research. 2025 Mar; 136(6): 594-605. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.124.325535.

Puciato D and Rozpara M. Demographic and Socioeconomic Determinants of Body Mass Index in People of Working Age. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020 Nov; 17(21): 8168. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17218168.

Puciato Dand Rozpara M. Physical Activity and Socio-Economic Status of Single and Married Urban Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study. PeerJ. 2021 Nov; 9: e12466. doi: 10.7717/peerj.12466.

Lakhe D. A Study to Assess the Knowledge and Practices of Menopausal Women on Weight Reduction Measures with a View to Develop an Informational Booklet in Selected Rural Area, Bangalore (Master's thesis, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (India)). 2023. 14. Nazli R, Akhtar T, Lutfullah G, Khan MA, Lutfullah G, Haider J. Prevalence of Obesity and Associated Risk Factors in a Female Population of Rural Peshawar-Pakistan. Khyber Medical University Journal. 2015 Mar; 7(1): 19-24.

Bakarman SS, Asiri S, Bashatha A, Syed W, Al-Rawi MB. Evaluation of Clinical Aspects of Obesity Among Undergraduate Healthcare Students-A Cross-Sectional Study at King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition. 2024 Oct; 43(1): 159. doi: 10.1186/s41043-024-00651-y.

Sharaf S, Al-shalabi BT, Althani GF, Bazuhair HM, Fairaq BJ et al. Obesity Self-Management: Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, and Pharmaceutical Use among Healthy Obese Individuals in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Family and Community Medicine. 2021; 5(4): 110-21. doi: 10.15406/ijfcm.2021.05.00232.

Moorthy SB, Subbaiahgari H, Sibbala P, Kola S, Kareem L. Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Towards Obesity among the General Public in Community Settings of Tirupati: A Cross-Sectional Study. 2022. doi: 10.18203/2349-3933.ijam20221704.

Khan S, Nauman H, Saher S, Imtiaz HA, Bibi A, Sajid H et al. Gender Difference in Obesity Prevalence among General Population of Lahore, Pakistan. European Journal of Medical and Health Sciences. 2021 Jun; 3(3): 55-8. doi: 10.24018/ejmed.2021.3.3.878.

Laar RA, Shi S, Ashraf MA, Khan MN, Bibi J, Liu Y. Impact of Physical Activity on Challenging Obesity in Pakistan: A Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020 Nov; 17(21): 7802. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17217802.

Jajulwar MB, Meshram PV, Saji DA. To Assess the Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of People Regarding Overweight and Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Study. International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health. 2017 Aug; 4(9): 3113-6. doi: 10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20173634.

Downloads

Published

2026-06-30
CITATION
DOI: 10.54393/nrs.v6i2.213
Published: 2026-06-30

How to Cite

Zeb, A., Afzal, Y., Ullah, U., Rahman, K., Farooq, U., Ahmad, I., Raza, N., & Bibi, S. (2026). Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices Regarding Body Weight Management Among Overweight and Obese Female Participants in Tertiary Care Hospitals, Peshawar: Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices among Overweight and Obese Female Participants . NURSEARCHER (Journal of Nursing & Midwifery Sciences), 6(2), 28–34. https://doi.org/10.54393/nrs.v6i2.213

Issue

Section

Original Articles

Plaudit