Assessment of the prevalence of obesity among the Gábor Roma population in comparison with the surrounding non-Roma population

Obesity is a major global public health challenge, particularly affecting ethnic groups that have undergone rapid lifestyle transitions in recent decades, such as the Gabor Roma population in our region. The aim of this study was to assess the current prevalence of obesity in this population. In this cross-sectional study, Roma and non-Roma adults were randomly recruited from settlements in Mureș and Harghita counties. Data collected included participants’ sex, age, height, body weight, birth weight, body weight at 14 years of age, physical activity, number of siblings, and personal and family medical history. Participants were categorized according to ethnicity, age group, body mass index (BMI), and sex. Independent-samples t-tests and chi-square (χ²) tests were used for statistical analysis. A total of 453 adults were included, of whom 228 were Gabor Roma. No underweight individuals were identified among the Roma participants, whereas significant differences were observed across the remaining BMI categories (Gabor Roma vs. non-Roma: normal weight, 10.53% vs. 30.6%, p<0.001; overweight, 23.6% vs. 35.6%, p=0.02; obesity, 65.7% vs. 31.1%, p<0.001). Participants younger than 25 years and those aged 25-40 years had comparable BMI values in the two populations, whereas Gabor Roma participants aged 40-55 years and those older than 55 years had significantly higher BMI values (35.9 vs. 27.3 kg/m², p<0.001, and 33.2 vs. 29.3 kg/m², p=0.02, respectively). A sedentary lifestyle was significantly more common among the Gabor Roma population (52.9% vs. 47.5%, p=0.02). Our findings demonstrate a significantly higher prevalence of obesity among the Gabor Roma population than among the surrounding non-Roma population, although no significant difference was observed in the younger age groups.