[Obesity, high blood pressure and physical activity levels in a black African population]

To determine the prevalence of general and abdominal obesity and to describe their association with high blood pressure and physical activity levels in a peri-urban population in West Africa.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire) in the Anonkoi 3 district, from 24 April to 23 May 2014. Obesity, abdominal obesity and physical activity levels were assessed. Blood pressure was measured. The data were entered on the Epi data software (version 3.1) and analyzed with the R studio software version 1.1.447. The existence of associations was demonstrated by the Pearson Khi² test at the 0.05 significance level. A multivariate analysis was performed.

We recruited 486 adults 18 years of age and older, including 327 women and 159 men. The average age was 36.1 years with a standard deviation of 12.83 years. The prevalence of obesity was 14.8 %, that of abdominal obesity 50.8 % or more than half of the population. Females (P=0.000), ages 30 years and older (P=0.003), high blood pressure (P=0.000) and low activity (P=0.033) were significantly associated with obesity and abdominal obesity. Multivariate analysis showed that the relationship between female gender and abdominal obesity was very significant (OR=48.52; 95 % CI).

This village located in a municipality of Abidjan has a heterogeneous population. This one adopts the sedentary habits of the city.