Assessment of Levels of Physical Activity among Overweight and Obese Adults Attending General Out-Patient Clinic in Lagos University Teaching Hospital

Abstract

Background: A sedentary lifestyle is more likely in obese people which does not only aid weight gain but also increases the risk of complications like diabetes mellitus, osteoarthritis, coronary artery disease, hypertension and cancers. Aim of the Study: The study will ascertain the degree of physical activity among adult patients who are overweight/obese and who visit General Out-Patient Clinic (GOPC), Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). Methodology: The research was a cross-sectional, descriptive study. The study population comprised of overweight and obese adults, aged 18 to 64, who attended the GOPC of the FMD, LUTH between July and September, 2019.  The sample was 285. Data was collected through pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire. Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS IBM) version 25 was used for data entry and analysis. Frequency and percentage were used to represent all categorical variables, and means, standard deviation, or, in the case of skewed continuous variables, median and interquartile range, were used to summarize them. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was employed to evaluate the normality of the data. The association between categorical variables was evaluated using the Fischer exact test and chi-square analysis. Findings: The study found that there is an inverse and possibly bidirectional causal relationship between physical activity and unhealthy BMI (overweight and obesity). The result revealed there is a high percentage of physical inactivity and low percentage of high physical activity among adult patients who are overweight and obese visiting GOPC, LUTH. Conclusion and Recommendations: The study recommended that physical activity interventions should receive special attention in the handling of overweight and obese adults, given the high levels of physical inactivity among them.