Public Health
Volume 123, Issue 9 , Pages 602-614 , September 2009

Prevalence and time trends in diabetes and physical inactivity among adult West African populations: The epidemic has arrived

  • A.R. Abubakari

      Affiliations

    • School of Nursing & Midwifery, 11 Airlie Place, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HJ, UK
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +44 1382 388 503; fax: +44 1382 388 533.
    • ,
  • W. Lauder

      Affiliations

    • School of Nursing & Midwifery, 11 Airlie Place, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HJ, UK
    • ,
  • M.C. Jones

      Affiliations

    • School of Nursing & Midwifery, 11 Airlie Place, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HJ, UK
    • ,
  • A. Kirk

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Sports and Exercise, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK
    • ,
  • C. Agyemang

      Affiliations

    • Department of Social Medicine, Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
    • ,
  • R.S. Bhopal

      Affiliations

    • Public Health Sciences Section, Division of Community Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

Received 6 August 2008 ,Revised 5 June 2009 ,Accepted 24 July 2009.

References 

  1. Wild S, Roglic G, Green A, Sicree R, King H. Global prevalence of diabetes: estimates for the year 2000 and projections for 2030. Diabetes Care. 2004;27:1047–1053
  2. International Diabetes Federation . Diabetes declaration and strategy for Africa: a call to action. Cape Town: International Diabetes Federation; 2006;
  3. World Health Organization . Global strategy on diet, physical activity and health. 57.17W New York: WHO; 2004;
  4. Myers J, Kaykha A, George S, Abella J, Zaheer N, Lear S, et al. Fitness versus physical activity patterns in predicting mortality in men. Am J Med. 2004;117:912–918
  5. Hu FB, Willett WC, Li T, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, Manson JE. Adiposity as compared with physical activity in predicting mortality among women. N Engl J Med. 2004;351:2694–2703
  6. Wei M, Gibbons LW, Kampert JB, Nichaman MZ, Blair SN. Low cardiorespiratory fitness and physical inactivity as predictors of mortality in men with type 2 diabetes. Ann Intern Med. 2000;132:605–611
  7. Tuomilehto J, Lindstrom J, Eriksson JG, Valle TT, Hamalainen H, Ilanne-parikka P, et al. Prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus by changes in lifestyle among subjects with impaired glucose tolerance. N Engl J Med. 2001;344:1343–1350
  8. World Health Organization . WHO Expert Committee on Diabetes Mellitus, Technical report series 646. Geneva: WHO; 1980;
  9. Craig CL, Marshall A, Sjostrom M, Bauman AE, Booth ML, Ainsworth BE, et al. International physical activity questionnaire: 12-country reliability and validity. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003;35:1381–1395
  10. Ekoé JM, Zimmet P, Williams R. The epidemiology of diabetes mellitus: an international perspective. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd; 2001;
  11. Abubakari AR, Bhopal RS. Systematic review on the prevalence of diabetes, overweight/obesity and physical inactivity in Ghanaians and Nigerians. Public Health. 2008;122:173–182
  12. Ezzati M, van der Hoorn S, Lopez AL, Danaei G, Rodjers A, Mathers CD. Comparative quantification of health risks: global and regional burden of disease attributable selected major risk factors. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2004;
  13. UK Department of Health . Health survey for England, 2004. London: The Stationery Office; 2005;
  14. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases . National Diabetes Statistics fact sheet: general information and national estimates on diabetes in the United States, 2005. Bethesda, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health; 2005;
  15. Saleh A, Amanatidis S, Samman S. Cross-sectional study of diet and risk factors for metabolic diseases in a Ghanaian population in Sydney, Australia. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2002;11:210–216
  16. Abubakari AR, Lauder W, Agyemang C, Jones M, Kirk A, Bhopal RS. Prevalence and time trends in obesity among adult West African populations: a meta-analysis. Obes Rev. 2008;9:297–311
  17. R Development Core Team. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. 2.4.1 ed. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing; 2006.
  18. Ohwovoriole AE, Kuti JA, Kabiawu SIO. Causal blood glucose levels and prevalence of undiscovered diabetes mellitus in Lagos Metropolis Nigerians. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 1988;4:153–158
  19. Erasmus RT, Fakeye T, Olukoga O, Okesina AB, Ebomoyi E, Adeleye M, et al. Prevalence of diabetes mellitus in a Nigerian population. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1989;83:417–418
  20. The National Expert Committee on NCD . Non-communicable diseases in Nigeria. Final report of a national survey. Lagos: Federal Ministry of Health and Social Services; 1997;
  21. Rotimi CN, Cooper RS, Okosun IS, Olatunbosun ST, Bella AF, Wilks R, et al. Prevalence of diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance in Nigerians, Jamaicans and US blacks. Ethn Dis. 1999;9:190–200
  22. Owoaje EE, Rotimi CN, Kaufman JS, Tracy J, Cooper RS. Prevalence of adult diabetes in Ibadan, Nigeria. East Afr Med J. 1997;74:299–302
  23. Ezenwaka CE, Akanji AO, Akanji BO, Unwin NC, Adejuwon CA. The prevalence of insulin resistance and other cardiovascular disease risk factors in healthy elderly southwestern Nigerians. Atherosclerosis. 1997;128:201–211
  24. Olatunbosun ST, Ojo PO, Fineberg NS, Bella AF. Prevalence of diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance in a group of urban adults in Nigeria. J Natl Med Assoc. 1998;90:293–301
  25. Okesina AB, Oparinde DP, Akindoyin KA, Erasmus RT. Prevalence of some risk factors of coronary heart disease in a rural Nigerian population. East Afr Med J. 1999;76:212–216
  26. Nyenwe EA, Odia OJ, Ihekwaba AE, Ojule A, Babatunde S. Type 2 diabetes in adult Nigerians: a study of its prevalence and risk factors in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2003;62:177–185
  27. Ogunkolo O, Amballi A. Prevalence of diabetes mellitus in newly admitted undergraduates of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nigeria. Niger Med Practit. 2005;47:26–28
  28. Mbanya J. Defining the relationship between poverty and non-communicable disease burden in Cameroon: preliminary report, 2003. IB Ref: 101051 data from WHO. Yaounde: University of Yaounde 2003;
  29. Mbanya JC, Ngogang J, Salah JN, Minkoulou E, Balkau B. Prevalence of NIDDM and impaired glucose tolerance in a rural and an urban population in Cameroon. Diabetologia. 1997;40:824–829
  30. Sobngwi E, Mbanya J-CN, Unwin NC, Kengne AP, Fezeu L, Minkoulou EM, et al. Physical activity and its relationship with obesity, hypertension and diabetes in urban and rural Cameroon. Int J Obes. 2002;26:1009–1016
  31. Health of Populations in Transition (HoPiT) Research Group–Cameroon . Cameroon burden of diabetes (CamBoD) project: baseline survey report (summary). Yaounde: CamBoD, MSP, World Diabetes Foundation; 2004;
  32. Dodu SRA, de Heer N. A diabetes case-finding survey in Ho, Ghana. Ghana Med J. 1964;3:75–80
  33. Amoah AGB, Owusu SK, Adjei S. Diabetes in Ghana: a community based prevalence study in Greater Accra. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2002;56:197–205
  34. Imperato PJ, Handelsman MB, Fofana B, Sow O. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus in three population groups in the republic of Mali. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 1976;70:155–158
  35. Fisch A, Pichard E, Prazuck T, Leblanc H, Sidibe Y, Brücker G. Prevalence and risk factors of diabetes mellitus in the rural region of Mali (West Africa): a practical approach. Diabetologia. 1987;30:859–862
  36. Teuscher T, Baillod P, Rosman JB, Teuscher A. Absence of diabetes in a rural West African population with a high carbohydrate/cassava diet. Lancet. 1987;8536:765–768
  37. van der Sande MA, Ceesay SM, Milligan PJ, Nyan OA, Banya WA, Prentice A, et al. Obesity and undernutrition and cardiovascular risk factors in rural and urban Gambian communities. Am J Public Health. 2001;91:1641–1644
  38. Ceesay MM, Morgan MW, Kamanda MO, Willoughby VR, Lisk DR. Prevalence of diabetes in rural and urban populations in southern Sierra Leone: a preliminary survey. Trop Med Int Health. 1997;2:272–277
  39. World Health Organization . Diabetes mellitus: report of a WHO study group. Technical Report Series 727 Geneva: WHO; 1985;
  40. World Health Organization . Definition, diagnosis and classification of diabetes mellitus and its complications: report of a WHO consultation. Part 1: diagnosis and classification of ciabetes mellitus. Geneva: WHO; 1999;
  41. Forrest KY-Z, Bunker CH, Kriska AM, Ukoli FAM, Huston SL, Markovic N. Physical activity and cardiovascular risk factors in a developing population. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2001;33:1598–1604
  42. Ojofeitimi EO, Aderounmu AO, Lomuwagun AF, Owolabi OO, Fadiora AO, Asa SS, et al. Assessment of knowledge and practice of nutritional and life style risk factors associated with cancer among hospital workers at two university teaching hospitals in Osun State, Nigeria. Nutr Health. 2003;17:139–146
  43. Afolabi WAO, Addo AA, Sonibare MA. Activity pattern, energy intake and obesity among Nigerian urban market women. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2004;55:85–90
  44. Kengne AP, Awah PK, Fezeu L, Mbanya JC. The burden of high blood pressure and related risk factors in urban Sub-Saharan Africa: evidences from douala in Cameroon. Afr Health Sci. 2007;7:38–44
  45. World Health Organization . WHO InfoBase. World Health Survey, 2003. Available at Geneva: WHO; 2003;http://www.who.int/infobase/report.aspx?rid=116&dm=2[last accessed 09.07.08]
  46. Mbanya JC, Kengne AP, Assah F. Diabetes care in Africa. Lancet. 2006;368:1628–1629
  47. Ezzati M, Hoorn SV, Lawes CMM, Leach R, James WPT, Lopez AD, et al. Rethinking the ‘disease of affluence’ paradigm: global patterns of nutritional risks in relation to economic development. PLoS Med. 2005;2:0404–0412
  48. Fall CHD. Non-industrialised countries and affluence. Br Med Bull. 2001;60:33–50
  49. Cooper RS, Rotimi CN, Kaufman JS, Owoaje EE, Fraser H, Forrester T, et al. Prevalence of NIDDM among populations of the African diaspora. Diabetes Care. 1997;20:343–348
  50. Brownson RC, Boehmer TK, Luke DA. Declining rates of physical activity in the United States: what are the contributors?. Annu Rev Public Health. 2005;26:421–443
  51. Yki-Jarvinen H. Sex and insulin sensitivity. Metabolism. 1984;33:1011–1015
  52. Sniderman AD, Bhopal R, Prabhakaran D, Sarrafzadegan N, Tchernof A. Why might South Asians be so susceptible to central obesity and its atherogenic consequences? The adipose tissue overflow hypothesis. Int J Epidemiol. 2007;36:220–225
  53. United Nations . State of world population 2007: unleashing the potential of urban growth. New York: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); 2007;
  54. DerSimonian R, Laird N. Meta-analysis in clinical trials. Control Clin Trials. 1986;7:177–188
  55. Egger M, Smith GD, Altman DG. Systematic reviews in health care: meta-analysis in context. London: BMJ Publishing Group; 2001;

PII: S0033-3506(09)00200-5

doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2009.07.009

Public Health
Volume 123, Issue 9 , Pages 602-614 , September 2009

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution