Knowledge and perceptions of obese housewives in Sri Lanka: a qualitative study

Background Obesity is one of the major public health concerns in Sri Lanka. Nearly 39% of adults in Sri Lanka are obese and the majority represents the middle-aged women. Knowledge and perceptions about causes, comorbidities, dietary and lifestyle management of obesity is vital in developing sustainable and feasible interventions. Therefore, present study aims to assess the knowledge and perceptions of obesity among a group of housewives with obesity in Sri Lanka using qualitative research methods. Methods A descriptive qualitative study conducted using 35 individual interviews. Interviews were steered with purposely selected housewives with obesity aged 25–50 years living in Pannala area. All the interviews were conducted in participants’ native language and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using NVIVO v12.0 software and themes and subthemes were derived. Results As stated, only a few of obese housewives perceived them as either overweight or obese. Unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, genetics, surgeries, contraception methods, and multiple pregnancies were the perceived causes of obesity. Majority believed that diet and physical activity has an impact on obesity. Perceived personal barriers for obesity management were lack of time, lack of motivation and less interest. Inconvenience in continuing a diet plan, impact of family members, limited time to do exercises, less interest in losing body weight and physical inconveniences following the exercises were the barriers related to dietary management and engage in physical activities. Conclusions Findings of the current study highlighted the lack of knowledge and awareness about their current obesity condition by the obese women, thus urge of initiating awareness and education programmes is emphasized. Despite the knowledge and perceiving the importance of healthy diet and physical activities for managing their obesity condition, most of them were unable to adhere to a healthy lifestyle pattern due to personal and social circumstances.