Background. Overweight and obesity are public health
problems all over the world because of their devastating
social, economic, and health consequences, and they
coexist with undernutrition in developing countries. Yet,
there are few data on the magnitude of these problems
in Nigeria.
Objective. To assess the prevalence of overweight,
obesity, and thinness among urban school-aged children
and adolescents.
Methods. A cross-sectional study of 1,599 children
and adolescents 5 to 18 years of age was conducted. The
subjects were randomly selected from schools in four
urban towns (Lagos, Port Harcourt, Nsukka, and Aba)
in southern Nigeria. A validated and pretested questionnaire
was used to collect information on the background
of the children and adolescents and their parents’ socioeconomic
status. Weight and height measurements were
taken, and body mass indexes were calculated. Overweight,
obesity, and thinness were defined according to
the International Obesity Task Force cutoff points for
children and adolescents 2 to 18 years of age. The data
were analyzed by descriptive statistics, cross tabulations,
and chi-squared tests.
Results. The prevalence rates of overweight, obesity,
and thinness were 11.4%, 2.8%, and 13.0%, respectively.
More females (3.7%) than males (1.8%) were obese
(p < .05). The prevalence of overweight was higher
among adolescents 10 to 18 years of age (13%) than
among children 5 to 9 years of age (9.4%) (p < .001) and
was highest (23.1%) at age 15 years. Thinness was significantly
more prevalent among children (19.0%) than
adolescents (8.3%) (p < .001) and was highest (28.6%) at
age 7 years. Age- and sex-related increases and decreases
were observed in the prevalence of overweight, obesity,
and thinness. The rates of overweight, obesity, and thinness
were affected by location and income levels.
Conclusions. The prevalence rates of overweight and
obesity are increasing among urban Nigerian children
and adolescents and are of equal magnitude to the prevalence
of undernutrition.