Obesity And Hypertension Among Adolescents In Senior High Schools In The Asante Akim North District, Ghana

ABSTRACT Introduction: Adolescent obesity and hypertension have reached alarming levels and their prevalence continues to rise to the extent that WHO has labeled them as epidemics. Adolescent obesity and hypertension are of importance because adolescents carry these diseases into adulthood and are likely to develop non-communicable diseases in their early years of adulthood. Despite this challenge, the burden of obesity among adolescents and its relationship with hypertension among adolescents in Ghana is unclear. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of obesity and its relationship with hypertension among adolescents in senior high schools in Asante Akim North district. Methods: This was a school-based cross-sectional study involving four hundred and twenty-nine (429) apparently well adolescents randomly selected from three (3) Senior High Schools in Asante Akim North district of Ashanti region. Height, weight, and blood pressure (SBP and DBP) were measured by standard methods and body mass index (BMI) for age and sex calculated. STATA 15 was used in data analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to describe anthropometric characteristics and blood pressure measurements. Chisquare, Pearson’s correlation, logistic and linear regression analyses were used to assess the relationship between BMI and blood pressure. Result: Four hundred and twenty-nine students (429) were recruited for the study comprising 170 males and 259 females. The prevalence of obesity was 2.6% (95% CI 1.3%, 4.5%) and the prevalence of overweight was 10.5%. All the obese participants were female. The prevalence of hypertension among the respondents was 12.8% (95% CI 9.8%, 16.4%) and the prevalence of pre-hypertension was 7.5%. BMI correlated positively with SBP and DBP. From logistic regression analyses, BMI was significantly associated with high SBP (OR 3.39, 95% CI: 1.27–9.06, p < 0.05). Conclusion: Adolescent hypertension and obesity were high among the study population in Senior High Schools in the Asante Akim North District in Ghana, with a prevalence of 12.8% and 2.6%, respectively. It is important that all relevant stakeholders should collaborate in implementing preventive strategies to curb adolescent obesity and hypertension. Findings from this study are expected to guide policy formulation. Keywords: Obesity, Hypertension, Adolescents, Body Mass Index, Asante Akim North district.