Obesity, Dyslipidemia and other Risks Factors for Metabolic Syndrome among Indigenous Black African Secondary School Students in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

_Introduction:_ Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a group of risk factors which together increase the chance of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. In MetS, especially among overweight and obese people, blood pressure and blood glucose are elevated, excess body fat accumulates abdominally, and there is dyslipidemia (notably low level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and high level of triglycerides). There is scarcity of data available on MetS and dyslipidemia among secondary school children in Lagos, Nigeria. _Objective: _To determine the prevalence of dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome among overweight and obese adolescents in secondary schools in Lagos, Nigeria. _Population and Methods: _An institution-based, cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted from October 2019 to March 2020. A multi-stage sampling approach was used to recruit 624 students aged 10-19 years in secondary schools within Lagos State of Nigeria. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and anthropometric measurements. Fasting venous blood samples were collected for plasma glucose and lipid profile analysis. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were measured. A p-value <0.05 was taken as statistically significant. _Results:_ The overall means (±sd) of age (years), weight (kg), height (m) and BMI were 14.7 (2.2), 47.4 (11.6), 1.6 (0.1) and 19.2 (4.2) respectively with no significant difference relative to gender, except BMI (Kg/m2) which was higher (t-test= -2.24, P-value=0.03) in girls (19.5±4.1) than boys (18.7±4.5). Only 1 (0.4%) of boy and 17 (4.4%) girls had waist circumference ≥94 cm and ≥80cm correspondingly. Approximately 17%, 75%, 5% and 3% of the students were underweight, healthy, overweight, and obese separately. The overall mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) was 108.2 (12.4) mmHg with about 14%, 4% and 0.5% presenting with pre-hypertension, stage 1 and stage 2 hypertension respectively. Overweight students had the highest SBP of 113.8±12.8 mm Hg while obese subjects had the highest DBP of 79.9±7.5 mm Hg. No obese subject had a low SBP. Approximately 19% and 12% of the study subjects had impaired and diabetic fasting blood glucose (FBG), especially females, those in early-stage adolescence and the overweight subjects. Approximately 71%, 50%, and 86% of the students had high levels of triglyceride, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein while 25% of them had low level of high-density lipoprotein. The overall prevalence of dyslipidemia was 8.5%, more prevalent among obese subjects (20.0%). Overall, 15%, 44%, 32% and 9% had 0, 1, 2 or ≥3 risk factors for metabolic syndrome. _Conclusion: _A higher proportion of male, mid-adolescent, and overweight students had a minimum of 3 risk factors for MetS_. _This is likely to impose a high burden on future health. The extent to which the problem might affect other areas of Nigeria needs investigation.