Abstract

Malnutrition, both under nutrition and over nutrition resulting from imbalance of nutrients is of

public health significance among populations across the world. The coexistence of

overweight/obesity and underweight is rather common in developing countries and is found to be

increased proportionally over time. The market place as an occupational environment can

predispose individuals to obesity, mainly due to the sedentary nature and enhanced access to

food. Information on the nutritional status of traders is scarce in Nigeria. A cross-sectional study

was undertaken at Ubani Ultra-Modern market and involved 200 traders who were selected using

random sampling. By using a questionnaire socio-demographic characteristics and physical

activities of respondents were recorded. Anthropometric measurements were used to assess the

Body Mass index (BMI) while waist and hip circumference were used to calculate waist hip ratio

(WHR). All anthropometric measurement were done using standard procedure and data

generated was assessed using their standard cutoff points. Food frequency questionnaire was

used to obtain information on the frequency of consumption of foods. Data was analyzed using

descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation and significance was judged at p<O.05 using the

Statistical Package for Socials Sciences SPSS version 21.The result showed that most (61%) of

the respondent were females while 39% were males. Vast majority (88.5%) of the traders were

young adults (18-47years old) while very few (11.5%) were old adults (above 48years old) of

which 57.5% were married and 38.5% were single, who were predominantly (93% and 91%)

christians and of Jgbo ethnicity respectively. Educational level was high among the traders as

47.5% and 44% attained secondary and tertiary education respectively. About 61.5% of the

traders were low income earners who earned N10, 000 — N29, 000 from sales in a month, while

38.5% were medium earners who earned N30, 000 and above. Most (62%) of the traders ate

three meals in a day and also snacked daily. Majority (95.5%) of traders were non-smokers of

which 41% consumed 1-2 bottles of their favourite alcoholic drink per day, whereas 54% did not

consume alcoholic drinks daily. More than half (57.5%) of the traders did not exercise at all in a

week whereas 42.5% did exercise for about 30minutes in a week out of which 49% feel

motivated to exercise, 44.5% of the traders indicated that their trade involved much activity

while 55.5% indicated that their trade did not involve much physical activity. Foods like

cabbage, banana, garri with soup, ripe plantain, rice and akara were mostly consumed by them.

Anthropometric result revealed that the male traders had a higher mean weight than the female

traders 73.37kg±12.66 and 70.61kg±16.97 respectively. Also, the male traders had mean BMI of

25.5 5kgm 2+3.73 while the female traders had BMI of 27.42kgm 2±6.33. The female traders had

higher mean waist (90.6cm) and hip (103.9cm) circumference than the male traders who had

waist (87.9cm) and (97cm) hip circumference. Hence, more males were at high risk of metabolic

syndrome than the female traders. The prevalence of obesity, overweight, normal and

underweight in this study were 25%, 29%, 45% and 1% respectively. There was a negative and

weak but significant relationship (p<0.05) between waist-hip ratio: smoking, education and

income level of the traders, whereas there existed a positive and weak but yet significant

relationship (p<0.05) between; body mass index and type of exercise practiced by the traders.

There was a relationship between waist hip-ratio, dietary habits and alcohol consumption which

was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Conclusively, the research confirmed that the lifestyle

characteristics of the traders showed that they were sedentary at the market and at home. They

consumed more carbohydrate-rich foods in contrast with other food groups. This high energy

intake was not commensurate with energy expenditure thus there was a cumulative effect of

weight gain which lead to the high prevalence of overweight and obesity among the traders.