Obesity and its cardio-metabolic co-morbidities among adult Nigerians in a primary care clinic of a tertiary hospital in South-Eastern, Nigeria

• Main Authors: Gabriel Uche Pascal Iloh, Austin Obiora Ikwudinma, Nnadozie Paul Obiegbu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2013-01-01
• Series: Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care
• Subjects: Adult; cardio-metabolic co-morbidities; Nigeria; obesity; primary care clinic
• Online Access: http://www.jfmpc.com/article.asp?issn=2249-4863;year=2013;volume=2;issue=1;spage=20;epage=26;aulast=Iloh

Background: Obesity once thought the medical problem of affluent countries now exist in Nigeria and has been described as a time bomb for the future explosion in the frequency of cardio-metabolic diseases. The most deleterious health consequences of obesity are on the cardiovascular system and associated disorder of lipid and glucose homeostasis. Aim: This study was designed to determine the magnitude of obesity and its cardio-metabolic co-morbidities among adult Nigerians in a primary care clinic of a tertiary hospital South-Eastern, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study carried out on 2391 adult Nigerians who were assessed for obesity using body mass index (BMI) criterion. 206 patients who had BMI ΃30kg/m 2 were screened for cardio-metabolic co-morbidities. The data collected included basic demographic variables, weight, height, blood pressure; fasting plasma glucose and lipid profile. Results: The prevalence of obesity was 8.6%. Grade I obesity (67.5%) was the most common pattern; others included grade II obesity (23.3%) and grade III obesity (9.2%). Hypertension (42.7%) was the most common cardio-metabolic morbidity. Others included low HDL-cholesterol (22.8%), diabetes mellitus (15.1%), high triglyceride (12.6%), high total cholesterol (9.2%), and high LDL-cholesterol (6.8%). Conclusion: Obesity and its cardio-metabolic morbidities exist among the study population. Anthropometric determination of obesity and screening for its associated cardio-metabolic co-morbidities should constitute clinical targets for intervention in primary care clinics.