Estimating the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Nigeria in 2020: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background Targeted public health response to obesity in Nigeria is relatively low due to limited epidemiologic understanding. We aimed to estimate nationwide and sub-national prevalence of overweight and obesity in the adult Nigerian population. Methods MEDLINE, EMBASE, Global Health, and Africa Journals Online were systematically searched for relevant epidemiologic studies in Nigeria published on or after 01 January 1990. We assessed quality of studies and conducted a random-effects meta-analysis on extracted crude prevalence rates. Using a meta-regression model, we estimated the number of overweight and obese persons in Nigeria in the year 2020. Results From 35 studies ( n = 52,816), the pooled crude prevalence rates of overweight and obesity in Nigeria were 25.0% (95% confidence interval, CI: 20.4–29.6) and 14.3% (95% CI: 12.0–15.5), respectively. The prevalence in women was higher compared to men at 25.5% (95% CI: 17.1–34.0) versus 25.2% (95% CI: 18.0–32.4) for overweight, and 19.8% (95% CI: 3.9–25.6) versus 12.9% (95% CI: 9.1–16.7) for obesity, respectively. The pooled mean body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference were 25.6 kg/m 2 and 86.5 cm, respectively. We estimated that there were 21 million and 12 million overweight and obese persons in the Nigerian population aged 15 years or more in 2020, accounting for an age-adjusted prevalence of 20.3% and 11.6%, respectively. The prevalence rates of overweight and obesity were consistently higher among urban dwellers (27.2% and 14.4%) compared to rural dwellers (16.4% and 12.1%). Conclusions Our findings suggest a high prevalence of overweight and obesity in Nigeria. This is marked in urban Nigeria and among women, which may in part be due to widespread sedentary lifestyles and a surge in processed food outlets, largely reflective of a trend across many African settings. KEY MESSAGES About 12 million persons in Nigeria were estimated to be obese in 2020, with prevalence considerably higher among women. Nutritional and epidemiological transitions driven by demographic changes, rising income, urbanization, unhealthy lifestyles, and consumption of highly processed diets appear to be driving an obesity epidemic in the country.

Prevalence and Socio-Demographic Correlates of Body Weight Categories Among South African Women of Reproductive Age: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The findings from the multivariate analysis of this study have established that women were more likely to be overweight/obese with increased age (45–49 years), married, urban, with tertiary education, employed, in the highest wealth quintile, Black/African, and resident in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces than underweight women. This finding is consistent with other studies conducted in India ( 44 ) and Nigeria ( 46 ).…”

“…In South Africa, about 59% of adults have reported consumption of fruits and vegetables while 49% reported that they consumed fruits only, and about 39% consume an unhealthy diet, and 8% and 5% engage in using tobacco products and risky drinking, respectively ( 14 , 45 ). These findings are similar to evidence from countries, such as Nigeria ( 46 ), Ghana ( 47 ), Namibia ( 48 ), which are countries with an increasing prevalence of overweight/ obesity associated with poor lifestyles. These high prevalence rates of modifiable unhealthy lifestyles can aid in understanding the causes for increased rates of overweight/obesity in South Africa.…”

“…However, a few studies have reported the increased prevalence of underweight in both rural and urban areas in countries, such as Madagascar, Mali, and Senegal (41)(42)(43). With regard to overweight/obesity, the main socio-demographic correlates were increased, such as age (44)(45)(46)(47)(48), married, tertiary education, rural, employed, high wealth quintile, and residence in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. These findings are consistent with previous studies conducted (41)(42)(43).…”

“…The multivariate analyses found out that rural women were more likely to be underweight compared to urban women. Urban women have quite a lot of advantages over their rural counterparts, such as higher levels of educational knowledge, greater awareness, employment, affluence, and easy access to health services, whereas rural women are often deprived of social and economic prospects ( 13 , 46 , 53 ). However, rural-urban has no significant relationship with body weight in the multivariate analysis.…”

Determinants of energy intake in Central African populations experiencing nutrition transition

“…Our results indicated a negative association between the increase of age and EI. Previous studies in Africa have reported a positive association between age and obesity (51,52) . The discrepancy with our study may be associated with the fact that our results are based on the overall age.…”