ABSTRACT

 Obesity and hypertension frequently occurs among youths and there is growing evidence that preventing and/ or delaying the onset of obesity and hypertension is a viable option. This study assessed the knowledge, attitude, and perception of undergraduate students of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture towards hypertension and obesity. A total of 433 students were randomly selected within the campus and off campus. A validated questionnaire was used to obtain information on their socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude and perception towards hypertension and obesity. Their anthropometric measurements which were taken includes their weight (kg), height (m), waist circumference (cm), hip circumference (cm), and waist-hip-ratio. Descriptive statistics was used to present data collected. Majority ofthe respondents (35.6%) were in their 3rd year followed by 4th year (31.9%), the males were more which was (50.3%) and females (49.7%). Those between the ages of 22-25 years were more (55.2%) followed by 18-21 years (36.7%). Majority (93.3%) of the students were from Igbo ethnic group. Students who earned less than N18,000 were (44.1%), while majority (30.3%) had businesses as their other source ofincome. Majority (99.5 and 99.1%) ofthe respondents were aware of hypertension and obesity, respectively. Majority of the respondents were aware of hypertension and obesity through the media. Majority of the students (45.3 and 43%) also had average knowledge of obesity and hypertension. Majority (85.9%) of the students had positive responses towards the attitude susceptibility status and 74.6% had negative responses towards the attitude severity status. Majority (76.4% and 88.2%) had positive response towards perception susceptibility and perception severity, respectively. Majority (88.2%) had positive responses towards perceived benefits level while perceived barrier level had (84.5%) negative responses. In terms of anthropometric indices of the respondents ; majority (72.5% and 74.4%) ofmales and females, respectively were normal follpwed by (22.5% and 20.0%) ofthe males and females who were overweight, (2.8% and 4,2%) ofthe males and females were obese, (0.5% and 0.5%) were morbidly obese while (1.8% and 0.9%) of the males and females were underweight. For the waist-hip-ratio (96.3% and 37.2%) ofthe males and females were normal while (3.7% and 62.8%) ofthe male and female respondents were at risk. There was no significant relationship between knowledge and the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents (p < 0.05). Low income was the only significant prediction (p < 0.001) of perceived susceptibility of the respondents towards hypertension and obesity. Nutrition education is highly important on the right choice offood, importance of regular exercises, increased consumption offruits and vegetables and regular medical checkups to reduce the risk of chronic diseases.