ABSTRACT

The effect of marital status and self-reported exercise was investigated in a sample of Igbos in Nigeria. Physical activity level was grouped into: no exercise, irregular exercise and regular exercise. In all the groups, adiposity level and mean BP decreases as the frequencies of physical activity increases and these were significant for weight, BMI, diastolic BP, body circumferences, skinfold thickness except CSF among the married men, while for the never married men significant difference exist only for WC, FAC, SSF among the three groups. For the married women, the three groups of physical activity recorded significant difference in Weight, BMI, WC and HC while the never married women had significant difference only in CSF (F = 4.5, P = 0.01). The result of this study suggests that sex, marital status and exercise have effect on adiposity and blood pressure of the subjects. The married state was conducive for the development of excess adiposity and elevated BP while regular participation in exercise brings a reduction in fat stores and blood pressure. In conclusion, there is a greater tendency for married individuals to be overweight as compared to the never married subjects and regular physical exercise has strong influence in reducing the propensity to increase weight in both men and women.

KEY WORDS: Adiposity; Blood Pressure; Physical Exercise; Marital Status; Igbos; Nigeria