Prevalence And Socio-Demographic Determinants Of Obesity Among Adults In An Urban Nigerian Population

Objectives: The aim of this study was to establish the prevalence and socio-demographic determinants of obesity among adults in an urban Nigerian population. Subjects and methods: We recruited 810 subjects between the ages of 18 to 65 years by the multi-stage cluster sampling method. Structured questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic data's. The body weight (kg) and height (m) of subjects were measured and body mass index (BMI) calculated. Results: The prevalence of obesity was 9.8% and overweight was 35.1 %. Out of the 79 obese subjects, 24.1% were males and 75.9% were females, the male to female ratio was 1:3. Obesity was strongly associated with female gender, subjects age ≥ 40 years and marriage, while educational attainment and socioeconomic class were not significantly associated with the diagnosis of obesity. The socio-demographic determinants of obesity among adult in this urban Nigerian population were female gender, marriage and age ≥ 40 years. Conclusion: The prevalence of obesity was low when compared to the developed countries. However, it is imperative to increase the awareness of the disease among the populace. Keywords: Prevalence, Socio-demographic, Determinants, Obesity, Adult, Urban, Nigerian Sahel Medical Journal Vol. 11 (2) 2008: pp. 61-6