PREDICTORS OF OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY AMONG ADOLESCENTS ATTENDING SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BAUCHI METROPOLIS, NORTHEAST...

Overweight and obesity are important risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The prevalence of both has continued to rise not only among adults but also among adolescents at an alarming rate worldwide. Adolescent overweight and obesity are becoming challenging, yet under-recognised problems in many developing countries like Nigeria. The aetiology is rather complex; however, some factors have been identified as determinants in different studies worldwide.

The study aimed to determine the predictors of overweight and obesity among adolescents attending secondary schools in the Bauchi metropolis.

A multistage sampling technique was used to select 300 participants. Data were collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20. The level of statistical significance at p-values < 0.05.

The overall prevalence of overweight was 11.0% and that of obesity was 9.7%, while the prevalence for male and female overweight was 6.0%, 5.3%, and for obesity was 2.0%, and 7.7% respectively. The mean BMI-for-age of the 2 2 participants was 20.9kg/m ±4.79 kg/m . Overweight and obesity were observed to have an independent significant association with female gender (OR 2.339 [95% CI: 1.13-4.86; P= 0.023]), father's occupation (OR 0.396 [95% CI: 0.191-0.823; P= 0.013]), and type of school attended (OR 0.336 [95% CI: 0.159-0.708; P= 0.004]).

The prevalence of overweight was higher in males than in females, while the reverse was the case for the prevalence of obesity. Adolescents with self-employed fathers and those who were attending private schools were more likely to develop Overweight and Obesity.