Body Mass Index and Lipid Profile: A Case Study of Female School Going Adolescents in Katsina Metropolis, Nigeria

Aim: The study is aimed at analyzing blood samples from 192 females school going adolescents (randomly selected) in a public boarding secondary school in Katsina metropolis for the levels of serum total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-CH), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-CH), and triacyl glycerol (TG) in order to ascertain a risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Study Design: A cross sectional study was conducted among female adolescents aged between 13 to 18years, attending boarding secondary school within Katsina metropolis-Nigeria to assess their nutritional status.
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Biochemistry, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua University, Katsina-Nigeria. December 2008 to April 2009.
Methodology: We determined the body mass index (BMI) and lipid profile of female school going adolescents. An end point colorimetric method was used to estimate serum total cholesterol. Test kits obtainable from Randox Laboratories Limited were used to estimate serum HDL-cholesterol, serum LDL-cholesterol and triacyl glycerol.
Results: The results indicate that female adolescents in the age groups 14, 15, 16 and 17 had a significantly (P<0.05) higher mean BMI than the age group13 and 18. Mean TC levels were significantly (P<0.05) higher in the age groups 13, 14, 15 and 17. Mean HDL-CH values were significantly (P<0.05) higher in the age groups 13, 15 and 17. Mean LDL-CH and TG values were significantly (P<0.05) higher in the age groups 13 and 14.
Conclusion: Although the findings of this study revealed that the adolescent subjects had BMI which are within the normal weight range of WHO cut-off points (18.5 to 24.9kg/m2) and a lipid profile indicative of low risk cardiovascular diseases. It is projected that most of our subjects will not have attendant complications associated with cardiovascular diseases. We recommend that similar study be conducted in private schools patronized by children of middle and high income groups.