NUTRITIONAL STATUS AND MENOPAUSAL SYMPTOMS OF POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN RESIDING IN BIRATNAGAR-10, NEPAL

Abstract

A community based cross- sectional qualitative study was carried out to assess the nutritional status and menopausal symptoms of postmenopausal women residing in Biratnagar-10 municipality. Anthropometric measurements such as Waist Circumference (WC), Waist to Hip Ratio (WHR) and Body Mass Index (BMI) were used as indicators to assess nutritional status according to WHO and Asian cut off points. Microsoft Excel 2013 and IBM SPSS version 26 software were used for data entry and analysis. Also, Chi-square test was used to establish relationship between different variables under study. Our study revealed 3.9% of respondents were underweight, 35.7% were normal, 44.3% were overweight and 16.1% were obese according to WHO-BMI cut offs. Similarly, 67% were abdominally obese according to WC whereas 84.3% by WHR. The mean BMI was found to be 25.74±4.16kg/m2 and WC was 93.87±10.27 cm with 0.95±0.08 WHR. Mean menopausal age was found to be 49.02±2.48 years where hot flushes (91.4%), heart discomfort (89.1%), sleep problems (88.7%), anxiety (87%) and joint/muscular discomfort (87%) were the most common postmenopausal health problems. The average daily calories, carbohydrate, protein and fat consumption were found to be 1813.45±189.05 kcal, 291.62±37.38gm, 52±7.8gm and 29.14±5.87gm, respectively. Variables like age, physical activity, pulses, green leafy vegetables, fruits, calories, carbohydrate and protein intake were associated with both BMI and WC while green leafy vegetables was only associated with BMI. The study depicted high prevalence of overweight and obesity among postmenopausal women. Therefore, necessary awareness program regarding the management of nutritional status should be conducted for women of those age group.