Effect of lifestyle (eating habits and physical activities) on Weight Gain of Rural and Urban Secondary School Adolescents in Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

A study on the pattern of lifestyles (physical activity and eating habit) amongst students in rural Akpabuyo local government Areas (LGA) and urban Calabar Municipality in Southern Cross River State, Nigeria, was conducted. The design of this study was a cross-sectional survey involving senior secondary school adolescents aged 12-21years. A simple random sampling was used to select four schools from 25 urban and 14 rural secondary schools in the Southern Senatorial District of Cross River State (CRS). Systematic random sampling was used to draw a sample of 480 senior secondary students from a population of 6130 senior secondary students enrolled in 39 secondary schools in rural and urban areas of the study area. The result showed that there was high prevalence of obesity amongst adolescents that took breakfast regularly out of the house.

Keywords; obese, eating habit. adolescents, physical activity,