Determinants of Overweight and Obesity Among Adolescent Students in Public Secondary Schools in Kwara State, Nigeria

Adolescents and childhood overweight and obesity have been observed as one of the serious public health challenges of the 21st century by World Health Organization. This study identified the determinants of overweight and obesity among adolescents in public schools in Kwara state, Nigeria. Multistage and stratified sampling techniques were used to randomly select 515 participants which comprised of 343 girls and 172 boys aged (10-19) years in 8 public secondary schools from 32 schools in 2 zonal inspectorate divisions. Data was collected using modified Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) and Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (PAQ-A). Digital bathroom scale and stadiometer were used to measure weight and height of the participants. (SPSS, Version 20) and WHO Anthroplus were used to analyze the data. Overall prevalence of overweight is (4.7%) and obesity (0.2%), while prevalence for male and female overweight (0.6%, 6.7%) and obesity (0%, 0.3%) respectively. Calculated mean BMI for age of the participants was (19.72 +/- 2.62) kg/m(2). Overweight and obesity were positive but weakly correlated to food consumption (FC) of participants (r=0.012), however the relationship was significant (p<0.001). Furthermore, overweight and obesity were negatively correlated with no significance to the physical activity level of participants (r=-0.105). Participants need to consume more of low calorie foods such as fruits and vegetables and should also engage in more physical activity practices such as aerobics to lower overweight and obesity prevalence.