Objective  To examine the prevalence and influencing factors of overweight and obesity among residents in Wuhan, Hubei province, and to provide evidences for developing weight control intervention strategies.

  Methods  We conducted a survey including face-to-face interview and physical examination during August – September 2018. The participants of the survey were 3 600 permanent residents aged 15 – 69 years in urban communities or rural villages selected with stratified multistage cluster sampling in 4 districts of Wuhan city, Hubei province.

  Results  Among the 3 237 valid respondents, the prevalence rate of overweight and obesity were 28.61% and 5.10% and the rates were 33.08% and 5.49% for the males and 24.86% and 4.77% for the females, respectively. The total prevalence rate of overweight and obesity was significantly higher among the male residents than among the female residents (38.58% vs. 29.63%, P < 0.01) and the highest total prevalence rate (39.70%) was observed among the residents aged 60 – 69 years. The prevalence rate of overweight and obesity was reversely correlated with education level and household income. Among the resident groups with various occupations, workers had a significantly higher overweight and obesity prevalence rate (43.06%, P < 0.01); the prevalence of overweight and obesity was significantly higher among the residents with chronic diseases than among those without the diseases (44.26%, P < 0.01); significantly higher prevalence rates of overweight and obesity were observed among the residents being exsmokers (43.50%) and never having physical exercise (49.32%) (both P < 0.01).

  Conclusion  The prevalence of obesity and overweight are relatively high and mainly influenced by gender, age, education level, occupation, annual family income, chronic disease, smoking status and weekly exercise frequency among community residents of Wuhan city.