Geographic variation of overweight and obesity among women in Nigeria: a case for nutritional transition in sub-Saharan Africa.

<h4>Background</h4>Nutritional research in sub-Saharan Africa has primarily focused on under-nutrition. However, there is evidence of an ongoing nutritional transition in these settings. This study aimed to examine the geographic variation of overweight and obesity prevalence at the stat...

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Main Authors: Ngianga-Bakwin Kandala, Saverio Stranges
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0101103
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author Ngianga-Bakwin Kandala
Saverio Stranges
author_facet Ngianga-Bakwin Kandala
Saverio Stranges
author_sort Ngianga-Bakwin Kandala
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>Nutritional research in sub-Saharan Africa has primarily focused on under-nutrition. However, there is evidence of an ongoing nutritional transition in these settings. This study aimed to examine the geographic variation of overweight and obesity prevalence at the state-level among women in Nigeria, while accounting for individual-level risk factors.<h4>Methods</h4>The analysis was based on the 2008 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), including 27,967 women aged 15-49 years. Individual data were collected on socio-demographics, but were aggregated to the country's states. We used a Bayesian geo-additive mixed model to map the geographic distribution of overweight and obesity at the state-level, accounting for individual-level risk factors.<h4>Results</h4>The overall prevalence of combined overweight and obesity (body mass index ≥25) was 20.9%. In multivariate Bayesian geo-additive models, higher education [odds ratio (OR) & 95% Credible Region (CR): 1.68 (1.38, 2.00)], higher wealth index [3.45 (2.98, 4.05)], living in urban settings [1.24 (1.14, 1.36)] and increasing age were all significantly associated with a higher prevalence of overweight/obesity. There was also a striking variation in overweight/obesity prevalence across ethnic groups and state of residence, the highest being in Cross River State, in south-eastern Nigeria [2.32 (1.62, 3.40)], the lowest in Osun State in south-western Nigeria [0.48 (0.36, 0.61)].<h4>Conclusions</h4>This study suggests distinct geographic patterns in the combined prevalence of overweight and obesity among Nigerian women, as well as the role of demographic, socio-economic and environmental factors in the ongoing nutritional transition in these settings.
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spelling doaj-art-0f1b3855f6e24edbb2af3c3808b7a33f2025-08-20T02:34:07ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032014-01-0196e10110310.1371/journal.pone.0101103Geographic variation of overweight and obesity among women in Nigeria: a case for nutritional transition in sub-Saharan Africa.Ngianga-Bakwin KandalaSaverio Stranges<h4>Background</h4>Nutritional research in sub-Saharan Africa has primarily focused on under-nutrition. However, there is evidence of an ongoing nutritional transition in these settings. This study aimed to examine the geographic variation of overweight and obesity prevalence at the state-level among women in Nigeria, while accounting for individual-level risk factors.<h4>Methods</h4>The analysis was based on the 2008 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), including 27,967 women aged 15-49 years. Individual data were collected on socio-demographics, but were aggregated to the country's states. We used a Bayesian geo-additive mixed model to map the geographic distribution of overweight and obesity at the state-level, accounting for individual-level risk factors.<h4>Results</h4>The overall prevalence of combined overweight and obesity (body mass index ≥25) was 20.9%. In multivariate Bayesian geo-additive models, higher education [odds ratio (OR) & 95% Credible Region (CR): 1.68 (1.38, 2.00)], higher wealth index [3.45 (2.98, 4.05)], living in urban settings [1.24 (1.14, 1.36)] and increasing age were all significantly associated with a higher prevalence of overweight/obesity. There was also a striking variation in overweight/obesity prevalence across ethnic groups and state of residence, the highest being in Cross River State, in south-eastern Nigeria [2.32 (1.62, 3.40)], the lowest in Osun State in south-western Nigeria [0.48 (0.36, 0.61)].<h4>Conclusions</h4>This study suggests distinct geographic patterns in the combined prevalence of overweight and obesity among Nigerian women, as well as the role of demographic, socio-economic and environmental factors in the ongoing nutritional transition in these settings.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0101103
spellingShingle Ngianga-Bakwin Kandala
Saverio Stranges
Geographic variation of overweight and obesity among women in Nigeria: a case for nutritional transition in sub-Saharan Africa.
PLoS ONE
title Geographic variation of overweight and obesity among women in Nigeria: a case for nutritional transition in sub-Saharan Africa.
title_full Geographic variation of overweight and obesity among women in Nigeria: a case for nutritional transition in sub-Saharan Africa.
title_fullStr Geographic variation of overweight and obesity among women in Nigeria: a case for nutritional transition in sub-Saharan Africa.
title_full_unstemmed Geographic variation of overweight and obesity among women in Nigeria: a case for nutritional transition in sub-Saharan Africa.
title_short Geographic variation of overweight and obesity among women in Nigeria: a case for nutritional transition in sub-Saharan Africa.
title_sort geographic variation of overweight and obesity among women in nigeria a case for nutritional transition in sub saharan africa
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0101103
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