You have no items in your shopping cart.
ABSTRACT
This study examined socio-cultural factors associated with high body mass index among adolescents. Three research questions and two hypotheses were raised for the study. The target population was 540 Senior Secondary School students of University of Benin Demonstration Secondary School, Benin City, Edo State. A sample of 230 respondents was selected using the Taro Yamme formula for sample size determination. A descriptive research design was employed for the study and data collected using a self-designed questionnaire. Data collected were analyzed using simple percentage, mean, Analysis of Variance and t-tests statistics. Hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Results showed that respondents had average knowledge on high body mass index (6.59 out of 10). It was indicated that phone/internet use had high duration of use among majority (33.9% and 24.8%) for above 4 hours and 3-4 hrs/day respectively, whereas duration of sports/exercise was found to be low among majority (49.1% and 20.4%) for less than one hour and between 1-2 hrs/day respectively. In addition, the study discovered that consumption of soft drinks/sugar sweetened beverages, snacks/fast foods and milk and other dairy products for more than twice a week was prevalent among majority (69.1%, 79.8%, 80.9%) respectively. However, binge eating had low prevalence (43.0% and 28.3%) for once/week and 2-3 times/week, whereas consumption of fruits and vegetables was moderate (22.2% and 24.2%) for 4-5 times/week and more than 5 times/week respectively. Furthermore, cultural factors listed were not related to risks for HBMI (mean of 2.37 on a scale of 4). In addition, there was no significant relationship between ethnicity and cultural factors influencing HBMI (P=0.08) and level of knowledge on HBMI was not related to gender (p=0.54). The study recommended that public health nursing practitioners should consider school-based enlightenment and campaigns aimed at educating adolescents on the risk factors for high body mass index and school administrators should ensure that healthy dietary pattern and lifestyle are inculcated in adolescents through instructions.
