Excess body weight poses one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century globally. Comparison of NFHS-2 (1998-1999) and NFHS-3 (2005-2006) data indicated that prevalence of obesity among Indian women has elevated from 10.6 to 12.6 per cent with an increment of 24.5 per cent betwee the years 1998-1999 and 2005-2006 and accordingly, TamilNadu ranks 4th in the order of prevalence of obesity. Since obesity is more common among women than in men, a study on prevalence of obesity among women in Madurai city was taken up. A total of 3012 women in age group 25-65years were selected by simple random sampling method and the study indicated that the prevalence of obesity among women in Madurai city is nearly, 11.4 per cent. Similarly, in the present study, aspects pertaining to the socio economic profile of the respondents revealed that a high prevalence of overweight and obesity was seen among Hindu respondents, married and those who were above 30 years, women with 1 or 2 children, women who had college education were likely to be obese. Besides, housewives and other dependent ladies in the family with sedentary nature of work, middle and high income, nuclear families and urban residing women were more obese than their counterparts. Therefore the selected socioeconomic parameter can be regarded as significant predictors of obesity.