The Implications of Carbonated Drinks on Weight Gain: A Purposive Approach on a Group of Civil Servants in Aba, Abia State, Nigeria

The implications of carbonated drinks on weight gain were carried out by purposively selecting a total of 35 (16 males and 19 females) volunteer human adults. Questionnaires were used to assess the dietary habit while standard biochemical methods were employed for the lipid profile. The results from the anthropometric measurements showed that the mean weights (kg), heights (m), and body mass indices (BMI) (kg/m2) were 80.13 ± 13.41, 1.66 ± 0.18, and 26.98 ± 5.17 respectively for the males and 79.00 ± 16.14, 1.61 ± 0.12, and 26.89 ± 4.78 respectively for the females. The desirable BMI for both males and females are 18.5 to 24.9. Lipid profile result showed that the mean total cholesterol (TCH) was within desirable range of 188.13 ± 45.04 for the males and 196.42 ± 42.39 for the females and the mean high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was within low range of 44.87 ± 10.83 and 43.26±8.58 for the males and the females respectively. However, the mean low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) was within the optimal range of 95.56 ± 38.86 and 114.37 ± 30.75 for males and females respectively. The mean triacylglycerols (TG) was within the borderline range of 173.63 ± 113.41 for the males and within normal range of 149.32 ± 100.28 for females. The total cholesterol/high density lipoprotein ratio (TCHDL ratio) showed that the mean values for males and females were 4.64 ± 1.13 and 4.56 ± 2.02 respectively. The desirable range of TCHDL ratio for both males and females are 3.5 to 6.0. Correlation analysis showed positive correlations between BMI and LDL-C, Waist to hip ratio (WHR) and TAG, Waist circumference (WaistCir) and TAG. The implications of these findings as it relates nutrition and health are discussed. Keywords: Obesity, overweight, carbonated drinks, lipid profile, and anthropometry