Are lifestyle cardiovascular disease risk factors associated with pre-hypertension in 15–18 years rural Nigerian youth? : a cross sectional study

CITATION: Odunaiya, N.A., Louw, Q.A. & Grimmer, K.A. Are lifestyle cardiovascular disease risk factors associated with pre-hypertension in 15–18 years rural Nigerian youth?: A cross sectional study. BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, 15(1): 144, doi: 10.1186/s12872-015-0134-x.Publication of this article was funded by the Stellenbosch University Open Access Fund.The original publication is available at http://bmcmusculoskeletdisord.biomedcentral.comBackground: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a public health concern worldwide. Hypertensive heart disease is predominant in Nigeria. To effectively reduce CVD in Nigeria, the prevalence of, and factors associated with, pre-hypertension in Nigerian youth first need to be established. Methods: A locally-validated CVD risk factor survey was completed by 15–18 year olds in a rural setting in south- west Nigeria. Body Mass Index (BMI), waist-hip ratio and systolic and diastolic blood pressure was measured. Putative risk factors were tested in gender-specific hypothesized causal pathways for overweight/obesity, and for pre-hypertension. Results: Of 1079 participants, prevalence of systolic pre-hypertension was 33.2 %, diastolic pre-hypertension prevalence approximated 5 %, and hypertension occurred in less than 10 % sample. There were no gender differences in prevalence of pre- hypertension, and significant predictors of systolic pre-hypertension (high BMI and older age) were identified. Considering high BMI, older age was a risk for both genders, whilst fried food preference was female-only risk, and low breakfast cereal intake was a male-only risk. Conclusion: Rural Nigerian adolescents are at-risk of future CVD because of lifestyle factors, and high prevalence of systolic pre-hypertension. Relevant interventions can now be proposed to reduce BMI and thus ameliorate future rural adult Nigerian CVD.http://bmccardiovascdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12872-015-0134-xPublisher's versio

High prevalence and clustering of modifiable CVD risk factors among rural adolescents in southwest Nigeria : implication for grass root prevention

CITATION: Odunaiya, N. A., Grimmer, K. & Louw, Q. A. 2015. High prevalence and clustering of modifiable CVD risk factors among rural adolescents in southwest Nigeria : implication for grass root prevention. BMC Public Health, 15(1): 661, doi: 10.1186/s12889-015-2028-3.Publication of this article was funded by the Stellenbosch University Open Access Fund.The original publication is available at http://bmcmusculoskeletdisord.biomedcentral.comBackground: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is an immense global problem with serious economic and social consequences. Modifiable risk factors for CVD have been identified internationally in adolescents where early intervention programs have the potential to reduce CVD risk on individual and population levels. In developing countries such as Nigeria, little is known about the prevalence of modifiable CVD risk factors among adolescents especially in the rural areas. Methods: This paper reports on a cross-sectional survey of modifiable CVD risk factors among rural adolescents in South-West Nigeria. All 15–18 years old adolescents in all the schools at Ibarapa central local government were approached and all those who assented and consented to participate in the study were involved. A total of 1500 adolescents participated in the study. Measurements of CVD risks factors taken were; smoking, physical activity, alcohol, dietary pattern using a questionnaire developed by authors. Other CVD risk factors such as waist hip ratio and BMI were taken using standardized instruments. Data were analyzed using STATA version 12. Results: Data from 1079 adolescents (56.5 % males and 53.5 % females) were analyzed. Mean age of males was 16.4 ± 1.14 years and mean age for females was 16.29 ± 1.13 years. Adolescents showed clustering of CVD risk factors with about 72 % having between two and four risk factors. A total of 102 clustering patterns were reported. The most common clustering pattern (19.6 %) included high animal lipid and salt diet. Conclusion: There is high level and clustering of CVD risk factors among rural adolescents in Southwest Nigeria. The most common clustering pattern was biased towards dietary factors. The high prevalence of CVD risk factors among rural adolescents in Southwest Nigeria suggests that urgent primary prevention programs are required to prevent the next generation of Nigerians from suffering of CVD.http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-015-2028-3Publisher's versio

Full Length Research Article - The Effects of Static Stretch Duration on the Flexibility of Hamstring Muscles

The effects of duration of a static stretching protocol (Intervention) on hamstrings tightness were evaluated. Sixty purposively sampled subjects with unilateral hamstring tightness that had no history of low back and lower extremity dysfunctions that necessitated medical intervention participated in the study. They were randomly assigned into one of 5 intervention and one control groups. Groups a, b, c, d, e subjects had their hamstrings passively stretched for 120, 90, 60, 30, and 15 seconds respectively, while group f served as control. This intervention was carried out on alternate days for 6 consecutive weeks. Knee extension deficit (KED) was measured for all groups at baseline, weekly and 7 days post cessation of the intervention (carry-over). Data were analysed using one-way ANOVA and paired t-test at 0.05 alpha. Asignificant reduction (P<0.05) was observed in the KED of subjects in all the intervention groups across the 6 intervention weeks. There was no significant difference between the immediate post intervention and carry-over KED values (p>0.05). The study shows that statically stretching tight hamstrings for any duration between 15 and 120 seconds on alternate days for 6 weeks would significantly increase its flexibility. The effect was also sustained for up to 7 days post intervention