Underweight; Overweight and Obesity in Adults Nigerians Living in Rural and Urban Communities of Benue State

ABSTRACT

Objective: To assess the prevalence of underweight; overweight and obesity among Nigerians aged 18-45 years; living in urban and rural settlements in one state in Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Four hundred and thirty-five subjects between 18 and 45 years of age were recruited for height; weight and waist circumference (WC) measurements. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated (weight/height 2; kg/m 2 ); WHO criteria determined BMI and WC categories. Results: Based on BMI; about 2of the study population was underweight; 22was overweight and 4was obese. There were more normal weight persons in rural than in urban settlement. About 40 and 30of females in urban and rural settlement; respectively; were either overweight or obese. Based on WC of the sample population; 10.34had increased risk for metabolic syndrome [action level I (defi ned as WC ?94 cm in men and ?80 cm in women)] and 2.8had substantially increased risk [action level II (defi ned as WC ?102 cm in men and ?88 cm in women)]. At action level II; there was no obese male. Conclusion: This study revealed that underweight; overweight and obesity exist in young adults; but overweight and obesity are more prevalent. Therefore; concerted efforts should be made to control this in young adults for their present well-being and to possibly avoid the risk of disease later in life