ASSESSMENT OF PREVALENCE, FAT DISTRIBUTION AND RISK FACTORS OF OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY AMONG PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN (6-12 YEARS) IN ABUJA METROPOLIS, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study assessed the prevalence, fat distribution, and risk factors of overweight (OW) and obesity (OB) among primary school children aged 6-12 years in Abuja Metropolis, Nigeria. Data was collected from ten (10) schools (5 private schools (PRS) and 5 public schools (PBS)) using questionnaire and anthropometric measurements. A multistage sampling technique of balloting without replacement was adopted. A structured and validated questionnaire was used to obtain information on family background, socio-economic status of the parents, and physical activity level (PAL) of the respondents. Anthropometric data was collected using appropriate tools and they include weight, height, waist circumference (WC), mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) and skinfold thickness measurement (SFT) (triceps, biceps and subscapular). A total of 615 respondents comprising 45.2% male and 54.8% female aged 6-12 years from both PR and PB primary schools were randomly selected. Percentage body fat (PBF) was calculated using Deurenberg and Slaughter equations. Body mass index (BMI), waist-height ratio (WHtR), fat mass index (FMI) and free fat mass index (FFMI) were calculated according to standard. Data obtained from the study was analysed using the Statistical Product and Service Solution (SPSS) for windows version 21.0. Data was presented as frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations. Comparisons were done using Chi square and Analysis of variance (ANOVA). Odd ratios (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) served to investigate the factors associated with OW and OB. The level of significance was p ≤ 0.05. The result revealed that 11.9% and 4.2% of the respondents were OW and OB respectively. Prevalence of OW and OB were higher among the PRS (82.2%, 73.1%) respondents than their counterparts in PBS (17.8%, 26.9%), with higher prevalence among the females (65%, 61.5%) than the males (34.2%, 38.5%). The respondents within the age range of 6-9 years were more OW and OB (68%, 57.7%) than the respondents within the age range of 10-12 years (31.5%, 42.3%). Respondents who had low PAL had higher prevalence of OW (61.6%) and OB (73.1%) than those who had high (1.4%, 0.00% respectively) PAL. Respondents whose parents’ monthly income was ₦100,000 and above had higher prevalence of OW (94.5%) and OB (80.8%) than children whose parents’ monthly income was less than ₦18,500 (OW (1.4%), OB (0.00)). Seven percent and 2.3% of the respondents who were OW had moderate health and high health risk respectively, while 2.0% and 2.0% of those who were OB had moderate and high health risk using WHtR. The use of WHtR also showed that more females were moderately (8.9%) and highly (2.9%) at risk than their male counterparts. Those in PRS had more moderate (11.7%) and high (4.4%) health risk than those in the PBS and those within the age range of 6-9 years had more moderate (9.6%) and high (3.1%) health risk than those within the age range of 10-12 years. The WC was significantly (p ˂ 0.05) associated with gender (χ2=11.227, p=0.001), type of school attended (χ2 = 55.248, p = 0.000) and age category of the respondents (χ2 = 13.565, p = 0.000), with the higher percentage of the females in the obese group. The respondents aged 9 years had the highest measurement for biceps (5.11 ± 2.87) and subscapular (7.05 ± 4.43), those aged 10 years had the highest triceps (8.54 ± 5.04) while those aged 12 years had the highest in MUAC (21.44 ± 2.94). The female respondents, the respondents from PRS and those within the age category of 6-9 years had more fat deposit than their counterparts using SFT measurements. PBF was significantly (p ˂ 0.05) higher among the females (18.78 ± 11.08) than the males (12.64 ± 9.15) and also among the PRS (18.40 ± 12.41) than the PBS (13.73 ± 8.14). The male had more FFM (29.04 ± 5.21) and FFMI (15.35 ± 1.72) than the females (28.67 ± 5.56, 14.65 ± 2.35) while the females had more FM (7.55 ± 6.77) and FMI (3.70 ± 2.97) than the males (4.91 ± 5.62, 2.50 ± 2.65). Multinomial logistic regression indicated that Sex, younger age, type of school attended, high income and low PAL were significantly associated with OW and OB. Prevalence of overweight and obesity are on the increase in urban areas.