National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS)
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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com / submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
This research assessed the body mass index of in school adolescents in Calabar municipality Local Government Area of cross River State, Nigeria. A total of 454 adolescents (10-19 years) consisting of 218 males and 236 females were randomly selected from 7 study schools in the Local Government Area. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data on background information of the adolescents concerning the topic. Anthropometric measurements (weight and height) of the adolescents were obtained, and used to calculate the Body Mass Index (BMI). Their BMI were categorized into obesity, overweight, normal and thinness using the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) reference and the WHO BMI classification for adolescents up to 19 years. The data obtained were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 20. The prevalence of overweight, obesity and underweight among adolescents were 7.7%, 1.1% and 32.8% respectively. The prevalence of obesity among the adolescents in private was 2.1% compared to the 0.0% in the public schools. On the other hand, public school had a high percentage of underweight adolescents; 106(65.4%) while the private school had 56(34.5%) of the total underweight adolescents. There was a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity among females than among males, with the chi square showing a statistically significant value of p<0.05. Unhealthy BMI is creeping into the population with underweight and overweight dwelling side by side though the prevalence of underweight(32.8%) is higher, measures should be taken to tackle this issue from both ends as either way constitute a serious health challenge.
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