ASSESSMENT OF NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF A GROUP OF HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS ATTENDING TERTIARY HEALTHCARE FACILITIES IN NIGERIA.

BACKGROUND Hypertension is a growing concern in developing and developed countries. Most of the diagnosed cases are caused by dietary lifestyle. OBJECTIVE To assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity among adult hypertensive in a selected tertiary health care in Nigeria. DESIGN A cross sectional study. SETTING Lagos State University Teaching Hospital Ikeja, Lagos and University College Hospital, Ibadan Nigeria. SUBJECTS A total of 120 patients (40.8% males and 59.2% females), volunteered to participate in the study after informed consent. Patients were recruited by convenience sampling method. OUTCOME MEASURES Weight, height, waist and hip circumference, Body Mass Index (BMI) and Waist-Hip Ratio (WHR). RESULTS The results showed that high percentage (62.5%) of the respondents had no family history of hypertension while 57.5% had hypertension less than one year ago. Patients' lifestyle revealed that 15.0% were taking alcohol, 85% had history of smoking tobacco while 53.8% of the respondents engaged in regular physical exercise. The BMI showed that grade 2 obesity was higher (41.0%) among females compared with males (21%). The WHR assessment also confirmed incidence of obesity among females compared to males as the WHR was 1.82 ± 0.45 and 2.00 ± 0.00 for male and female respectively. CONCLUSION Nutrition screening of hypertension is necessary for early intervention against hypertension and obesity.