Orthopedic & Muscular System: Current Research
Open Access

Abstract

Normative Values of Selected Anthropometric Variables in Lagos Nigerian Population

Sonuyi AO, Akinpelu AO, Odole AC and Akinbo SRA

Background/Objective: Anthropometric measures are important to physical fitness and weight control programmes because adiposity indices which are often used to measure the outcomes of such programmes are derived from them. The aim of this study was to determine normative values of selected anthropometric measures of participants in Lagos, Nigeria.

Method: This cross-sectional survey involved 5342 (2741 males, 2601 females) apparently healthy individuals, aged 5-90 years who were recruited consecutively. Participants’ weight, height, waist circumference, hip circumference, percent body fat were measured using standard methods. Body Mass Index (BMI) was computed. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, percentages, percentiles, and 95% confidence interval of the distribution.

Results: The 95% confidence intervals of distribution for the entire study sample were 67.62-68.46 kg for weight, 1.65-1.66 m for height, 24.72-26.53 kg/m² for BMI, 26.53-27.05% for percent body fat, 69.53-70.73 cm for waist circumference, 78.68-79.96 cm for hip circumference, and 0.87-0.88 for waist-hip ratio. The values for all the variables increased with age until the 60-69 years age group after which it dropped.

Conclusion: Normative values of selected anthropometric variables of Nigerians fall within the upper and lower bounds of the 95% confidence interval of the distribution.