PREVALENCE 0F OBESITY AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, LIVING IN HALLS OF RESIDENCE, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA CAMPUS, ENUGU STATE

A study of the prevalence of obesity among undergraduate students was conducted at University of Nigeria Nsukka campus, Enugu, State, in the South Eastern part of Nigeria. A total of 620 male and female students were randomly selected for the study. A structured and validated questionnaire and anthropometry were used for data collection. The study elicited information on the sex distribution of the subjects who were obese, their marital status, dietary pattern, activity pattern and their health status. Information obtained was analyzed using frequency distribution, percentages, means and cross tabulation. The result revealed that 21% of the participants were obese, (8.1% are males and 13.1% are females).  Most of the participants who were obese were unmarried, a total of 93.4% of the of the study population. The result of the eating pattern showed that 40.6% of the subjects purchased their foods from eating houses within the campus, 46.6% cooked their meals with foods brought from their homes; 28.2% and 26.7% consumed fruits and vegetables daily respectively. Food choice was based on taste of the food, cultural demands and easy to prepare foods. Information on the activity level showed that 85.5% of the obese subjects occasionally engaged in physical activity. Assessment of the health status indicate that 6.1% had cardiovascular disease; 2.3% were diabetics, 3.8% had gall bladder disease and 51% had other illness like ulcer, irregular menstruation, fever and stomach ach.