Socio-Demographic Factors Associated with Obesity among Adolescents in Secondary School in Onitsha, South East Nigeria

Background: The prevalence of obesity among adolescent has been on the increase worldwide. This is probably a result of increase in the sedentary life style and the increasing shift to western diet. Obesity in children and adolescents has adverse consequences. These include increase in the rate of Diabetes Mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular diseases, etc with resultant increase in premature deaths. Objectives: To determine the socio-demographic and behavioral factors associated with overweight and obesity in apparently healthy secondary school adolescents. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of secondary school adolescents aged 10 - 19 years randomly selected from two public schools and three private schools. The weight and heights of study subjects were measured using standard equipment. Body mass index (BMI) was appropriately calculated and the WHO growth reference standard for age and gender, specific percentile for BMI was used to define overweight 85th to 97th and obese (97th percentile and above). Results: Data were initially collected from 1250 participants, but 52 were excluded due to improperly completed questionnaires. Thus, a total of 1198 students were ultimately included in the study, giving a response rate of 95.8%. These included 621 females (51.8%) and 577 males (48.2%) aged 10 - 19 years giving a F:M ratio of 1:0.9. The mean age of the students was 15.07 ± 1.96 years overall, 15.13 ± 2.08 years for males and 15.03 ± 1.83 years for females. There was no statistically significant difference between male and female in the distribution of age groups (p = 0.12). The mean BMI was 21.51 ± 3.57 kg/m2 for females and 20.22 ± 3.16 kg/m2 for males. The BMI was significantly higher in females in all age groups (p < 0.001) except those aged 10 - p = 0.13). The prevalence rates of overweight and obesity were higher in females than males (17.7% vs 10.7%, 5.6% vs 4.5% respectively;p ≤ 12 yrs;p = 0.04). The frequent consumption of sugar based beverages (p p p = 0.03) were significantly associated with both overweight and obesity (p p p < 0.001) were also significantly associated with obesity. Conclusion: Sociodemographic factors such as gender, socioeconomic status and behavioral patterns were major contributors to obesity. Behavioral interventions including regulating the intake of sugar based beverages and reducing the time spent on sedentary activities could be useful strategies in reducing the high prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents.

Pattern of Neurological Disorders among Children Presenting at the Neurology Unit of Tertiary Hospital in Awka

Background: Many children in Nigeria suffer from detrimental, debilitating and lifelong neurologic disorders, many of which are highly preventable using simple, cost-effective interventions. Objective: To examine the pattern of neurological disorders among children presenting at the neurology unit of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital Amaku, Awka, Nigeria. Methods: A retrospective review of the hospital records of children who presented at the Paediatric Neurology Unit between 1st March 2020 and 31st March 2022 was carried out. Data were abstracted using a proforma and analyzed using SPSS Version 21. Results: A total of 138 children aged 0 to 15 years were seen in the unit during the period under review. 115 (83.35%) of these children were diagnosed with chronic neurological disorders. Those with chronic neurological disorders had a male:female ratio of 1.9:1, and the majority (65%) of them were below 5 years of age. The most common presenting complaints were delayed milestones (43.4%), seizures (23.8%), and speech disorders (17.2%). The most typical diagnosis was cerebral palsy (CP) (34.7%), seizure disorder (29.8%) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (8.9%). Perinatal asphyxia (47.7%), neonatal jaundice (17.0%) and central nervous system infections (CNS) infections (12.5%) were identified as the major risk factors responsible for these neurologic disorders. Conclusion: Cerebral palsy and seizure disorders constitute the major neurological disorders among children seen in our institution. Efforts should be intensified at reducing the incidence and impact of perinatal asphyxia, neonatal jaundice and CNS infections, identified as the major culprits, to curb the menace of these debilitating lifelong neurologic sequelae.

Exploring the Relationship between Adiponectin and Blood Pressure in Nigerian Children

Background: Adiponectin possesses essential physiological functions that protect against the onset of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Although several studies have discussed the association between adiponectin and Blood Pressure (BP) in adults and older adolescents. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to explore the relationship between adiponectin and BP among children in Africa. Significance: This novel discovery is expected to serve as a benchmark for future local studies in examining the role of adiponectin in cardiovascular disorders among Africans. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 86 healthy children aged 4 to 11 years with normal BMI. BP values were measured and percentiles derived from the 2017 revised clinical practice guidelines of the American Academy of Paediatrics. Fasting blood adiponectin values were determined with ELISA, and the level of statistical significance was set at p Result: 86 children were comprised of 42 (48.8%) males and 44 (51.2%) females. The mean age of all subjects was 7.5 ± 2.3 years, while that of fasting adiponectin was 4.8 ± 2.1 ng/dl. There were no significant differences in the age, Body Mass Index, BP and adiponectin concentrations across gender. 69 (80.2%) participants had normal BP while 5 (5.8%) and 12 (14.0%) had elevated BP and stage 1 hypertension. Mean adiponectin values for normal BP, elevated BP and stage 1 hypertension were 5.1 ± 2.1 ng/ml, 3.3 ± 1.2 ng/ml and 4.1 ± 1.9 ng/ml respectively (p-value = 0.039). A significant negative correlation was observed between adiponectin and systolic BP independent of age, sex, and BMI. Although a negative correlation was noted between adiponectin and diastolic blood pressure, this was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Adiponectin correlates negatively with systolic BP in young Nigerian children independent of age, Body Mass Index and gender. More studies are indicated to investigate this relationship in association with vital metabolic factors across different age groups in Africa.

Sociodemographic Factors for Vitamin D Levels in Children with Acute Respiratory Infection

Background and Objectives: Childhood acute respiratory infection is a public health problem with significant morbidity and mortality in developing countries. The present study was to assess the sociodemographic determinants of vitamin D levels in patient with acute respiratory infections (ARIs) receiving care in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, Southeast Nigeria. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study, conducted in Nnewi, Nigeria, on 250 children with ARI. Sociodemographic data were collected and serum vitamin D levels of the subjects were assayed. The association between sociodemographic variables and vitamin D was evaluated using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: A total of 250 children with ARI aged 1 - 59 months were enrolled in this study, with slight male preponderance (57.2%). About 60% of the population was less than 2 years. The majority (85.6%) of the subjects had adequate vitamin D levels (≥20 ng/dL). The mean serum vitamin D level in the subjects was (52.2 ± 25.6 ng/mL). Multivariate logistic regression showed that only gender was significantly related to vitamin D levels with males found to have a lower risk of vitamin D deficiency. {OR = 0.05 (0.004 - 0.77)}, p = 0.03. Conclusion: The association between male gender and high levels of vitamin D in acute respiratory infection was significant in this study. Further studies, however, should explore a probable role for vitamin D supplementation in children with ARI.