Adiposity and quality of life: a case study from an urban center in Nigeria.
OBJECTIVE
To determine relationship between adiposity indices and quality of life (QOL) of residents of a housing estate in Lagos, Nigeria.


METHODS
Cross-sectional survey employing multistep random sampling method.


METHODS
Urban residential estate.


METHODS
This study involved 900 randomly selected residents of Abesan Housing Estate, Lagos, Nigeria.


METHODS
Body mass index (BMI); waist circumference (WC); waist-to-hip ratio (WHR); triceps skin-fold thickness (TSFT); and abdominal skin-fold thickness (ASFT) were measured using International Standard of Anthropometric Assessment methods. QOL was assessed using Short Form-20.


METHODS
Data were analyzed using the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis.


RESULTS
The mean age of participants was 37.7 +/- 14.3 years, with a range of 20 to 80 years. The mean values of adiposity indices were 24.1 +/- 4.3 kg/m(2) (BMI), 11.5 +/- 5.3 mm (TSFT), 18.5 +/- 6.2 mm (ASFT), 81.8 +/- 11.2 cm (WC), and 0.89 +/- 0.1 (WHR). Although the overall mean QOL score was 72.02 +/- 11.9, women had significantly (P < .05) lower scores (70.1 +/- 5.2) than men (73.5 +/- 11.3). There was inverse correlation between QOL and each of the age and adiposity indices.


CONCLUSIONS
Quality of life of the urban-dweller Nigerians decreased with increasing body adiposity and age. This finding suggests the need to further educate the Nigerian public on the association between high body fat and poor health.
Akinpelu
Aderonke O
AO
Department of Physiotherapy, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. aderonkeakinpelu@yahoo.com
Akinola
Odunayo T
OT
Gbiri
Caleb A
CA
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology*; D011634:Public Health; D011788:Quality of Life; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055105:Waist Circumference; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio; D055815:Young Adult