Obesity among civil servants: the knowledge, attitudes, prevalence and risk factors among workers at the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria

Background: The burden of obesity is rising globally. However, developing countries like Nigeria who may be adopting western cultures are particularly at risk. Civil servants may have an increased risk of obesity due to the sedentary nature of their work.Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the awareness, attitudes, prevalence, and the factors associated with obesity among civil servants at the Lagos state secretariat Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos state.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among civil servants at the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa. A multistage sampling method was used to select 350 respondents drawn from seven randomly selected ministries in the Lagos State Secretariat. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge, attitude and lifestyle characteristics of the respondents. Anthropometric measurements were taken to determine the prevalence of obesity using body mass indices, Waist measurements and waist hip ratios. Data was analysed using SPSS version 17 statistical software.Results: About half (52.4%) of the respondents were female. The mean age of the respondents was 39.49 ± 9.3 years. Majority (68.3%) were of Yoruba ethnicity. Most of respondents were married (59.2%) and had undergone tertiary education (79%). Majority (81.1%) of the respondents had poor knowledge about obesity however, 74.3% of the respondents had a positive attitude towards obese people and obesity intervention programs. Using BMI as a means of classification, 39.3% of the respondents were overweight while 32% of the respondents were obese. The waist circumference showed that 39.6% of the respondents were above the standard limits while based on waist to hip ratio measurements only 5.9% of the respondents were obese. A bivariate analysis showed that there was a statistically significant relationship between obesity and sex, age, marital status and level at civil service. However, in the multivariate analysis, the factors independently associated with obesity were sex i.e. being female (OR 2.62, 95% CI 1.56-4.40,) and increasing age (OR 1.45, 95%CI 1.16-1.80). Single respondents were less likely to be obese than their non-single counterparts (OR - 0.348, 95%CI -0.19-0.65).Conclusion: There was a relatively high prevalence of obesity among the civil servants. The overall knowledge of obesity among the population was poor. However, most of the respondents had positive attitudes towards obesity. It is recommended that the Lagos state government should institute measures for the prevention and control of obesity among its workers with emphasis on older female workers.Keyword: Obesity, civil servants, knowlege, attitude, prevalence, risk factors, Lago