Research on the Nutrition Habits and Anthropometric Measurements o f Adult Women in Gölbaşı, Ankara

Abstract

This research was carried out in Gölbaşı, Ankara with the aim of determining the nutrition habits and the anthropometric measurements o f adult women. The research was conducted on 650 women aged between 20-74 years old using stratified random sampling method. Questionnaires included general information o f adult women, their nutrition habits and their anthropometric measununents. The data were collected by face to face intei'view. It was obsei-ved that 63.4% o f women consumed three main meals in a day and 71.0% o f women always or sometimes skipped main meal. The most frequently skipped meal was breakfast (61.0%). The reason for skipping main meal was having breakfast late (52.5%). All o f the women always or sometimes consumed snacks. As a result of the study it was foud that 26.3% o f women were normal in body weight (BMI: 20.0-24.9 kg/ m2), 30.5 % were overweight (BMI: 25.0-29.9 kg/ m2), and 38.9 % were obese ( >30 kg/m2). As a result o f statistical analyses, it was found that BMI o f women differed regarding to their body stature (p<0.01), the condition o f doing exercise, the number o f meal, the condition o f skipping meals and eating habits (p<0.05). The waist circumference of 73.2% o f women were as 88 cm or higher, 14.8% o f the women had the waist circumference 81-88 cm and 12.0% o f the women had the waist circumference <50 cm. Also, the relation between waist circumference and waist-hip ratio and age, body mass index and number o f children were found to be significant (p<0.01).