Incidence of obesity and its predisposition to metabolic syndrome among female students in Akanu Ibiam federal polytechnic, Unwana, Afikpo, Ebonyi state

Abstract

The indices of obesity were studied among fifty (50) female volunteers in Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Unwana, Afikpo, Ebonyi State using three anthropometric indices of obesity: body mass index (BMI), waistto-
hip circumference ratio (WHR), and waist-to-arm circumference ratio  WC:AC). The female volunteers were divided according to their age groups, four of the subjects were between the age ranges of 16-20 years, and 31 subjects were between the age range of 21-25 years while 15 subjects were 26 years and above. A total of thirteen (13) subjects were under weight, twenty eight (28) were normal weight, seven (7) subjects overweight and two (2) subjects were obese from the overall study of the subjects’ BMI. Serum biochemical parameters like glucose and lipid profiles were also determined. Total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), triacylglycerides (TAG) of both the obese and overweight subjects were significantly (P>0.05) high compared with those of underweight and normal weight subjects. Fasting blood glucose levels of the overweight subjects were significantly (p<0.05) high compared with those of normal weight among the studied population. The unfavorable lipid parameters observed indicate that obesity should be considered a risk factor for hypercholesterolemia. The result of this study supports the use of new measures as possible tools in the diagnosis of overweight and obesity, and should be used to complement BMI cut offs which also revealed good correlation with biochemical parameters in the studied population.

Keywords: Body mass index, Obesity, Lipoprotein, Glucose, Metabolic Syndrome