The prevalence of overweight and obesity and associated factors among Adults in Goni Gora Kaduna State, Northwestern Nigeria

Obesity is an epidemic disease in many developed countries and an emerging public health problem in developing countries, particularly in urban settings.The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity and the associated factors among adult residentsin Goni Gora community in Kaduna State. The study was conducted in Goni Gora a semi-urban setting in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Northwestern Nigeria in January 2017. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 192 adult residents in the community. Data was collected using structured, pretested and interviewer-administered questionnaire using mobile data collection method (Epiinfo™ version 7.2). Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 21. The level of significance was set at a P value of ≤0.05. The majority of the respondents (32.3%) were within the age group of 20-29 years. The mean age of respondents was 34.6±13.1 years and males (52.1%) comprised the majority of the respondents. All the respondents were Christians with 55.2% of them being married. The prevalences of overweight and obesity were 6.7% and 1.1% respectively. Age (P=0.001), sex (P=0.001), marital status (P=0.002), average monthly income (P=0.004) and duration of physical activities per day (P=0.001) were found to be associated with overweight and obesity. There was, however, no association found between obesity and educational status (P=0.195). Overweight and obesity were found to be prevalent among the respondents in the study. Factors such as age, gender, marital status, average monthly income and duration of physical activities per day were found to be associated with overweight and obesity. There is a need to mount intervention programs that are targeted at prevention and control of overweight and obesity in the community.