Pattern and Distribution of Body Mass Index among Young Adults in a Nigerian University: A Comparative Study of Ife and WHO Classification Systems

Obesity is a global epidemic with serious health implications. The World Health Organization (WHO) classification for body mass index (BMI) may not be most appropriate for all adults globally irrespective of racial and ethnic... [ view full abstract ]

Obesity is a global epidemic with serious health implications. The World Health Organization (WHO) classification for body mass index (BMI) may not be most appropriate for all adults globally irrespective of racial and ethnic considerations. This study assessed the pattern and distribution of BMI among young adults in a Nigerian university. Two thousand six hundred and forty-four (1221 males and 1423 females) apparently healthy young adults aged between 18-40years (inclusive) were recruited for this study. The weight and height of the participants were obtained using standard techniques and BMI was calculated from weight and height using Quetelet’s formula. Ife and WHO classification were used to classify the BMI into underweight, normal weight, overweight and obesity. Data were analysed using SPSS version 20 software and p-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The mean ± SD of age, weight, height and BMI of the participants were 20.7±3.6years, 59.1±9.9kg, 1.7±0.8m and 21.3±3.3kg/m2 respectively. From this study, the prevalence of underweight, normal weight, overweight and obesity using Ife criterion were 9.15%, 79.54%, 7.30% and 4.01% respectively while the prevalence of underweight, normal weight, overweight and obesity using WHO classification were 15.92%, 73.60%, 8.17% and 2.31% respectively. A significant difference was noticed between the two mode of BMI classifications (χ2=4976.49, p<0.0001). Significant gender differences were noticed with both Ife criterion and WHO classification systems. More than 10% of study population had abnormally high BMI irrespective of classification system. WHO classification under-estimated the prevalence of obesity. In assessment of BMI, population specific criteria may be more appropriate than the globally projected classification.