Socio-Demographic Correlates of Overweight and Obesity among Women of Reproductive Age in Nigeria
Abstract
factors with increased BMI among Nigeria women aged 20-49 years using secondary data collected for the 2008
NDHS. Anthropometric and socio-demographic variables of interest were extracted from the data and analyzed with SPSS
version 15.0. Was used to compare categorical variables and multi-nominal logistic regression was used to examine for
correlates. The prevalence of overweight (BMI 25 to 29.9kg/m2) and obesity (BMI 30kg/m2 and above) in this population were
18.1% and 7.1% respectively. The prevalence of overweight/obesity was highest among Igbo women. Multivariable logistic
regression revealed increased frequency of watching television, belonging to a particular ethnic group, having a tertiary education
and increased parity as risk factors for increased BMI. This study confirms a high prevalence of overweight and obesity among
Nigerian women and identifies high risk groups for excessive weight gain. (Afr J Reprod Health 2013; 17[4]: 66-76)
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