Objectives To explore the prevalence of obesity and risk of metabolic complications among workers of a harness plant in Durango, Mexico.

Method A croos-sectional study was conducted on 300 workers. Measurements of body mass index (BMI) and waist hip ratio (WHR) were obtained. BMI (m/kg²) was classified into underweight (<18.5), normal range (18.5–24.9), pre-obese (25.0–29.9), obese class I (30.0–34.9), obese class II (35.0–39.9), and obese class III (≥40.0). Risk of metabolic complications (RMC) was considered high when WHR > 0.85 for women, and > 0.95 for men; and moderated between 0.80–0.85 for women and 0.90–0.95 for men. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied for continuos variables, and χ² test for categorical variables.

Results The mean age (±SD) of the subjects was 28.7 (±8.9) yrs. In the sample, 51.7% were male. According to the BMI, 47.3% of participants were in the normal range, 35.3% pre-obese, and 15.7% showed obesity. According to the WHR, 30% were at high risk, and 28.6% at moderate risk for developing metabolic complications. The RMC (high and moderate) was significant more prevalent in women than in men, 77.5% vs 49.3%, (p < 0.0001). ANOVA yielded significant variation in obesity according to age (p < 0.001). Post hoc Tukey test showed differences of obese class II with normal range (p = 0.007) and underweight (p = 0.0169).

Conclusions The prevalence of obesity and RMC are quite high in studied population. The risk is higher among women and increases with age.