TITLE:
Socio-Demographic Factors Associated with Obesity among Adolescents in Secondary School in Onitsha, South East Nigeria
AUTHORS:
Nkiru Veronica Agu, Kenneth Nchekwube Okeke, Sylvia Tochukwu Echendu, Chinyere Ukamaka Onubogu, Joy Chinelo Ebenebe, Thomas Obiajulu Ulasi, Njideka Constance Uchefuna, Christian Chukwuemeka Ifezulike, Amalachukwu Okwukweka Odita, Joseph Ezeogu
KEYWORDS:
Adolescent, Obesity, Socio-Demographic, Behavioral Factors
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases,
Vol.13 No.7,
July
17,
2023
ABSTRACT: Background: The prevalence of obesity among adolescent has been on the increase
worldwide. This is probably a result of increase in the sedentary life style
and the increasing shift to western diet. Obesity in children and adolescents
has adverse consequences. These include increase in the rate of Diabetes Mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia,
cardiovascular diseases, etc with resultant increase in premature
deaths. Objectives: To determine the socio-demographic
and behavioral factors associated with overweight and obesity in apparently
healthy secondary school adolescents. Methods: This was a
cross-sectional study of secondary school adolescents aged 10 - 19
years randomly selected from two public schools and three private schools. The
weight and heights of study subjects were measured using standard equipment.
Body mass index (BMI) was appropriately calculated and the WHO growth reference
standard for age and gender, specific percentile for BMI was used to define
overweight 85th to 97th and obese (97th percentile and above). Results: Data were initially collected from 1250 participants, but 52 were
excluded due to improperly completed questionnaires. Thus, a total of 1198
students were ultimately included in the study, giving a response rate of
95.8%. These included 621 females (51.8%) and 577 males (48.2%) aged 10 - 19
years giving a F:M ratio of 1:0.9. The mean age of the students was 15.07 ± 1.96
years overall, 15.13 ± 2.08 years for males and 15.03 ± 1.83 years for females.
There was no statistically significant difference between male and female in
the distribution of age groups (p =
0.12). The mean BMI was 21.51 ± 3.57 kg/m2 for females and 20.22 ± 3.16 kg/m2 for males. The BMI was significantly higher in females
in all age groups (p - p = 0.13). The
prevalence rates of overweight and obesity were higher in females than males
(17.7% vs 10.7%, 5.6% vs 4.5% respectively; p ≤ 12 yrs; p =
0.04). The frequent consumption of sugar based beverages (p p p = 0.03) were significantly associated
with both overweight and obesity (p p p Conclusion: Sociodemographic factors such as gender, socioeconomic status and
behavioral patterns were major contributors to obesity. Behavioral
interventions including regulating the intake of sugar based beverages and
reducing the time spent on sedentary activities could be useful strategies in
reducing the high prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents.