Background: Childhood obesity is a potential health problem in Nigeria because of our changing patterns of lifestyle. It is associated with significant health, medical and psychological consequences for children and adolescents.
Objective: To determine the nutritional status of Nigerian children aged six to eighteen years using anthropometry.
Methods: The study which was a school-based cross-sectional survey employed a multi-staged random sampling method. Four secondary and four primary schools (two private and two public) were selected to ensure adequate representation of the focus age group of six to 18 years and social classes. Ninety students were selected from each school. Overall, 360 subjects were selected from primary and secondary schools respectively giving a total of 720 school children. Each subject had a questionnaire complete followed by the measurement of height and weight. Nutritional status was determined using the International Obesity Task Force criteria.
Results: Two (0.3%) of the 720 students studied were obese both being females. Twenty (2.8%) subjects were overweight of which 17 (85.0%) were females and three (15.0%) males. Females had a higher prevalence of overweight when compared with males. There was a higher proportion of overweight students in the higher social classes when compared with the lower social classes (p=0.03). Five hundred and sixty (77.8%) were underweight with a BMI less than 18.50.
Conclusion: Obesity and overweight are rather uncommom problems among children in Ile-Ife a semi urban south-western Nigeria town. However, overweight is more common in children from high social classes and among adolescents, the girls tend to have higher BMI than the boys. Underweight is prevalent among these children.