Study aim: The purpose of this study was to ascertain how young women in Calabar South, Cross River State, were aware of the reasons and preventative measures for obesity.
Material and methods: The study adopted the descriptive survey design using simple random sampling technique to select 400 participants (14–26years of age). Self-made and approved questionnaire was employed as a tool for data collection. With the use of descriptive statistics, the data was analyzed using frequency and percentages while chi square analysis was used to test hypothesis.
Results: According to the results, a majority of respondents 65.9% had high understanding of the factors that contribute to obesity, compared to just 34.1% who had poor awareness. It was also revealed that short sleep duration, excessive use of technology, parenting and social hindered the preventive practice of obesity. Chi-square analysis showed that the calculated value 28.005a was greater than the critical value 7.81 (p-value = 0.000), thus the null hypothesis was rejected. This shows that there is a significant correlation between level of awareness of the causes of obesity and the educational level of young women.
Conclusion: Nurses and midwives should educate young women about obesity during health consultations and prenatal clinic appointments in other to elevate their awareness to enhance their preventive practices
