Disparities in Urban and Rural Dwelling Adolescents' Educational Needs for Obesity Prevention in Nigeria

Background and Objectives: Obesity has increased in recent times and has attained an epidemic status worldwide, incuding in Nigeria. Prevalence of obesity rises during adolescence and prevention is advantageous. However, it is unknown whether rural and urban dwelling adolescents in Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria have the requisite knowledge needed to prevent obesity. The objective of this study was to determine the educational needs of urban and rural dwelling adolescents for obesity prevention. Methods: The study was a school-based cross-sectional survey, and employed multistage sampling technique to select six secondary schools across the three senatorial districts of the state. An adapted and validated sub-scaled obesity knowledge questionnaire was used to obtain data from 2,304 secondary school students. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 was used for data analysis. Results: The total number of urban male students and rural male students was 576 (25.00%). The total number of urban female students and rural female students was also 576 (25.00%). The sample mean age of participants was 16.77 (SD±79), and those aged 16 years 1,043 (45.27%) were the largest portion of the sample. Generally, 756 (32.81%) of the participants had good knowledge of obesity. Specifically, subscale analysis showed that 622 (27.00%) participants had good knowledge of risk factors for obesity; 519 (22.53%) had good knowledge of complications of obesity; 659 (28.60%) had good knowledge of prevention for obesity; and 653 (28.34%) had good knowledge of meaning/assessment of obesity. Difference in mean score between urban (M= 3.80, SD = 0.44) and rural residents (M = 3.72, SD = 0.43; t = 4.63, p = 0.00, 2-tailed) was significant. Conclusion and Implications for Translation: Adolescents' knowledge regarding obesity is generally inadequate, especially in rural areas. Adolescents need education to acquire fundamental knowledge of the meaning/assessment, risk factors, prevention, and complications of obesity for prevention.