Research

Hormonal

Women in urban East African settings exhibit significantly higher prevalence of obesity, abdominal adiposity, and metabolic syndrome compared to men, despite having lower odds of hypertension.

In this specific population, women face a disproportionately high risk of metabolic syndrome and obesity compared to men, even if their blood pressure remains lower. Prevention strategies should prioritize weight management and metabolic screening for women, addressing cultural perceptions of body image that may discourage weight loss efforts.

ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Women had 4.3 times greater odds of obesity (95% CI: 1.9–10.1), 14.2–fold increased odds for abdominal adiposity (95% CI: 5.8–34.6), and 2.8 times greater odds of high waist-hip-ratio (95% CI: 1.4–5.7), compared to men. In contrast, female participants had 50% lower odds of having hypertension, compared to men (95%CI: 0.3–1.0).
Marina Njelekela et al. · BMC Cardiovascular Disorders · 2009

Why this rating

Cross-sectional observational study with a relatively small sample size (n=209) and potential selection bias (refusal rate 16.4%), limiting causal inference.

Source

Gender-related differences in the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors and their correlates in urban Tanzania

Marina Njelekela et al. · BMC Cardiovascular Disorders · 2009

DOI 10.1186/1471-2261-9-30

cross_sectional · n=209Cited 183×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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