Abstract

Nigeria  is  the  most  populous  country  in  Africa  and  the  eighth  most  populous  country  in  the  world,  yet  there  is  a  paucity  of  published  research  about  its  demography  by  Reed  &  Mberu, and especially, weight and adiposity distribution. This gap in information triggered this review. Obesity and overweight prevalence in young adult Nigerians has been grossly reported,  generating  the  fear  of  decline  in  productivity  of  the  working  age  group,  due  to  health  challenges  resulting  from  overweight  and  dyslipidemia.  Age  and  gender  has  significant  influence  on  the  body  weights  of  population  and  could  considered  during national  health  planning.  Obesity  and  overweight  prevalence  in  young  adult  Nigerians  has  been  grossly  reported,  generating  the  fear  of  decline  in  productivity  of  the  working  age group, due to health challenges resulting from overweight and dyslipidemia. Thus, an urgent information generation and enlightenment on this should be seriously considered by the Health Ministry of Nigeria.

Keywords

obesity, overweight, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer