September 2003, Volume 9 No. 2

ARTICLE 4

Dietary and Other Factors Associated with Overweight Among Women Workers in Two Electronics Factories in Selangor

Lim Hwei Mian¹, Chee Heng Leng¹, Mirnalini Kandiah², Khadijah Shamsuddin³, Jamilah Jamaluddin⁴, Nor Anita Megat Mohd Nordin⁴ & Rashidah Shuib^5
1 Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor
² Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor
³ Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Yaacob Latif, Bandar Tun Razak, 56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur
⁴ Department of  Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, 50300 Kuala Lumpur
⁵ Women’s Health Development Unit, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16159 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan. E-mail: arichl@nus.edu.sg

Abstract
This study was a cross-sectional survey conducted among 122 women workers employed in the electronics factories in the Ulu Klang Free Trade Zone (FTZ) and the Bangi FTZ, Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia.  The purpose of the study was to examine the problem of overweight (>25.0 kg/m2) among this group of women, and factors (socio-demographic, work, exercise, and dietary) associated with overweight, and, to study the food intake pattern of the women in both the overweight and non-overweight groups.  Data was collected using a set of questionnaires, while anthropometric measurements were obtained to calculate body mass index (BMI) and waist hip ratio (WHR).  The results of the study indicated that 64.0% of the women were overweight (29.5% pre-obese, 34.5% obese).  About one-tenth of the women (11.5%) had a WHR of above 0.85.  From the bivariate analysis, it was found that women who were older, ever married, had lower educational level, had higher salary, not living in the hostel, involved in shiftwork, and trying to lose weight were more likely to be overweight.  After adjusting for age, each of the above factors, except for educational level, remained significantly associated with overweight.  Women’s diet was found to be monotonous and lacking in variety as accessibility to and availability of a variety of food was a problem for them due to the nature of their work.  They also had a sedentary lifestyle.  Therefore, further research focusing on changing the poor dietary habits and sedentary lifestyle of the women workers is necessary to address the problem of overweight.

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