Exploring the relationship between dietary patterns and obesity among Nigerian adults: a cross-sectional study

Asaolu Segun; Bo Zhang; Abiona Modupe Mary; Dennis Kibenja; Jie Ma; Seif Said; Idowu Adeniyi; Lamin F Barrow

doi:10.1186/s12889-024-18792-4

Exploring the relationship between dietary patterns and obesity among Nigerian adults: a cross-sectional study

BMC Public Health. 2024 May 15;24(1):1319. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-18792-4.

Authors

Asaolu Segun¹, Bo Zhang¹, Abiona Modupe Mary¹, Dennis Kibenja¹, Jie Ma¹, Seif Said², Idowu Adeniyi³, Lamin F Barrow⁴

Affiliations

¹ Food Safety and Health Research Center, School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
² Department Of Nursing and Public Health, Faculty of Health and Allied Science, Zanzibar University, Zanzibar, Tanzania.
³ Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Abuja, Nigeria.
⁴ The Department of Public and Environmental Health, School of Medicine and Allied Health Science, University of Gambia, Serekunda, The Gambia. lfbarrow@utg.edu.gm.

Abstract

Background/objective: No previous study has investigated the association between dietary pattern and both general and abdominal obesity risk among adults in Nigeria. This study aimed to evaluate the associations between dietary patterns and the risk of obesity among adult age 18 and above in Ekiti State, Southwestern Nigeria.

Methods and study designs: A total of 1003 adults were included in this cross-sectional study (males = 558; females = 445). Body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip (WHR) were used to assess general and abdominal obesity respectively and they were categorized using WHO recommendation. Partial correlation analyses were performed to assess the associations of dietary patterns with BMI and WHR. Prevalence ratio between dietary pattern and both general and abdominal obesity were calculated using Robust Poisson Regression.

Results: The prevalence of general obesity among adults was 15.9%, (11.6% among men and 20.2% among women); abdominal obesity was 32.3% (28.9% among males and 44.5% among females). Four dietary patterns were identified; diversified traditional pattern; typical traditional pattern; milk and bread pattern and egg and fish pattern. Diversified traditional pattern was negatively associated with BMI (PR = 0.571, 95%CI: 0.360 ~ 0.905, p = 0.017), and typical traditional pattern was positively associated with BMI (PR = 1.561, 95% CI: 1.043 ~ 2.339, p = 0.031) and WHR in females (PR = 1.849, 95% CI: 1.256 ~ 2.721, p = 0.005). In comparison to those in the lowest quartile, adults with the highest quartile of the typical traditional pattern had a higher risk for abdominal obesity (PR = 1.849, 95%CI = 1.256 ~ 2.721, p = 0.020).

Conclusion: This study reports an alarming increase in Obesity prevalence among Nigeria adults which is greatly influence by their lifestyle and eating pattern. We found out that a typical traditional food pattern was associated with a higher risk of both general and abdominal obesity, but a diverse traditional food pattern was associated to a reduced risk of general obesity.

Keywords: Adult; Dietary pattern; Nigeria; Obesity; Overweight; s.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Body Mass Index*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Diet* / statistics & numerical data
Dietary Patterns
Feeding Behavior
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Nigeria / epidemiology
Obesity* / epidemiology
Obesity, Abdominal / epidemiology
Prevalence
Risk Factors
Waist-Hip Ratio
Young Adult