Exploring the relationship between dietary patterns and obesity among Nigerian adults: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: No previous study has investigated the association between dietary pattern and both general and abdominal obesity risk among adults in Nigeria. This study aimed to evaluate the associations between dietary patterns and the risk of obesity among adult age 18 and above in Ekiti State, Southwestern Nigeria. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGNS: A total of 1003 adults were included in this cross-sectional study (males = 558; females = 445). Body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip (WHR) were used to assess general and abdominal obesity respectively and they were categorized using WHO recommendation. Partial correlation analyses were performed to assess the associations of dietary patterns with BMI and WHR. Prevalence ratio between dietary pattern and both general and abdominal obesity were calculated using Robust Poisson Regression. RESULTS: The prevalence of general obesity among adults was 15.9%, (11.6% among men and 20.2% among women); abdominal obesity was 32.3% (28.9% among males and 44.5% among females). Four dietary patterns were identified; diversified traditional pattern; typical traditional pattern; milk and bread pattern and egg and fish pattern. Diversified traditional pattern was negatively associated with BMI (PR = 0.571, 95%CI: 0.360 ~ 0.905, p = 0.017), and typical traditional pattern was positively associated with BMI (PR = 1.561, 95% CI: 1.043 ~ 2.339, p = 0.031) and WHR in females (PR = 1.849, 95% CI: 1.256 ~ 2.721, p = 0.005). In comparison to those in the lowest quartile, adults with the highest quartile of the typical traditional pattern had a higher risk for abdominal obesity (PR = 1.849, 95%CI = 1.256 ~ 2.721, p = 0.020). CONCLUSION: This study reports an alarming increase in Obesity prevalence among Nigeria adults which is greatly influence by their lifestyle and eating pattern. We found out that a typical traditional food pattern was associated with a higher risk of both general and abdominal obesity, but a diverse traditional food pattern was associated to a reduced risk of general obesity.

Involvement of Cholinergic and Redox Impairments in Insecticidal Properties of Essential Oils from Fertility Tree and Horseradish Tree Leaves in Fruit Fly (Drosophila melanogaster).

This study reports the biological activity of essential oils from fertility tree and horseradish tree leaves, and the mechanisms by which these oils promote insecticidal activity using Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism. Adult D. melanogaster were exposed to these essential oils at a final concentration of 10 µL/g for 24 hours. The exposure of flies to the essential oil resulted in significant decrease in their survival and fecundity. In addition, the essential oils produced significant reduction in acetylcholinesterase activity and induced oxidative stress in the flies as evidenced by an increase in reactive oxygen species, thiol and thiobarbituric reactive substance levels, as well as catalase activity. The essential oils were also characterized by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Constituents such as terpenoids, Bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, benzeneacetaldehyde, phytol, octadecane, 9,12-octadecadienoic acid (Z,Z)- methyl ester, heneicosane, eicosane and others were characterized. Therefore, our results point out to the potential application of fertility tree and horseradish tree leaf essential oils as natural alternatives to synthetic insecticides in agricultural and pest control practices, especially against dipterans.