title: Association between anxiety and obesity: A study of a young-adult Nigerian population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The relationship between anxiety and obesity is still debatable and seems to vary between cultures. The subject has been scarcely investigated in Nigeria, hence this study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1584 young-adult Nigerians (56.4% males) of mean age 21.8 ± 2.2 years were studied. Anxiety was assessed using the Beck's Anxiety Index (BAI), while obesity was determined using the bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and body mass index (BMI) methods. Standard protocols were followed for all assessments and measurements. Appropriate descriptive statistics were carried out, while regression and correlation analyses (for continuous variables) and the Chi square tests (for categorical variables) were used to assess the relationship between anxiety and obesity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The degree of adiposity of the subjects (males and females alike) classified by %BF standards did not significantly (P > 0.05) affect the proportion of the population with any degree of anxiety. The proportion of population with high anxiety (for both sexes) was similar (P > 0.05) irrespective of their BMI status. All the obese (BMI-wise only) males had low anxiety, while the proportion of thin females (in the low anxiety group) was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that of their normal weight counterparts. There was neither a significant correlation nor a significant association (P > 0.05) between the BAI scores and the studied measures of adiposity in both male and female subjects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The low prevalence of both anxiety and obesity in the studied population may explain the observed lack of association between the studied variables. These findings do not support the "jolly fat" hypothesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, College of Natural and Applied Sciences, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, PMB 7267 Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Chukwunonso Ecc
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Ejike
keywords: Adiposity; anxiety; association; obesity; young-adult Nigerians