Background: Adolescence constitutes a vulnerable age group where the actual prevalence of sexual abuse may remain largely unknown due to lack of knowledge, delay in and lack of reporting of such incidences. Objectives: To determine the knowledge and history of sexual abuse in adolescents and the associated factors.  Methods: A self-administered pretested questionnaire was used to collect data from children aged 10 to 19 years at an adolescent summer camp.  Results: Two hundred and seventy-six adolescents participated in this research out of which 41.3% had correct knowledge of sexual abuse, and 12.0% claimed they had been sexually abused.  Among the 33 respondents with a history of sexual abuse, 39.4% (13/33) had correct knowledge of sexual abuse.  Gender had a significant association with a history of sexual abuse (p = 0.008). Layered by age group, gender had a significant association with being sexually abused in mid-adolescence (p = 0.029) but not in late adolescence (p = 0.445). Age category had no significant association with being sexually abused. Conclusion: The knowledge of sexual abuse was inadequate among adolescents. A high proportion claimed to have been previously sexually abused and interestingly, had insufficient knowledge of sexual abuse There is a need to educate adolescents on sexual abuse to empower them to protect themselves and get help as appropriate.

Background: The prevalence of obesity is increasing worldwide, both in developed and developing countries. In Nigeria, obesity is emerging as an important public health problem. Childhood and adolescent obesity results in adult obesity with the resultant morbidities. Objectives: This study determines the prevalence of overweight and obesity in apparently healthy secondary school adolescents. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional study of secondary school adolescents aged 10-19 years randomly selected from two public schools and three private schools. The weights and heights of the study subjects were measured using standard equipment. BMI was computed using the standard formula weight (kg) / height2 (m). Using the WHO; 2007 age and sex-specific BMI percentile cut-offs, the subjects were classified as underweight (3rd to <15th percentile), normal (15th to <85th percentile), overweight (85th to <97th percentile) or obese ≥97th percentile. Results: Data were initially collected from 1250 participants, but 52 were excluded from improperly completed questionnaires. Thus, 1198 students were ultimately included in the study, giving a response rate of 95.8%. These included 621 females (51.8%) and 577 males (48.2%) aged 10-19 years, giving an F: M ratio of approximately 1: 0.9. The mean age of the students was 15.07 ±1.96 years overall, 15.13 ± 2.08 years for males and 15.03 ± 1.83 years for females. There was no statistically significant difference between males and females in the distribution of age groups (p=0.12). The mean BMI was 21.51±3.57kg/m2 for females and 20.22±3.16kg/m2 for males. The BMI was significantly higher in females in all age groups (p<0.001) except for those aged 10-<12 years (p=0.13). The prevalence rates of overweight and obesity were 14.4% and 5.1%, respectively. The prevalence rates of overweight and obesity were significantly higher in females than males (17.7% vs 10.7%, 5.6% vs 4.5% respectively (p<0.001) and most prevalent among the early adolescence (10<12yrs; p= 0.04). Conclusion:  Prevalence of overweight and obesity is high among secondary school adolescents in Onitsha, Anambra state. There is a need for regular monitoring of weight and height as an early measure to prevent and control overweight and obesity.

Background: Adiponectin is an excellent insulin sensitizer. It also possesses anti-inflammatory and anti-atherogenic properties that play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of cardio-metabolic disorders. Evaluating adiponectin distribution in children and factors that modulate its blood level is critical for advancing knowledge in its future role in managing associated non-communicable diseases. Aim: To investigate the adiponectin profile in apparently healthy pre-pubertal Nigerian school children. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study comprising 125 randomly recruited pupils from eight primary schools in Nnewi located in Anambra State, Nigeria. Anthropometric values were taken and venous blood samples assayed for adiponectin using Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. Analysis of data was done with SPSS software version 22 and R programming software. The level of significance set at P < 0.05. Results: We enrolled a total number of 125 children, which comprised of 68 (54.4%) males and 57 (45.6%) females with a male to female ratio of 1.2:1. The mean age of all the subjects was 7.7 ± 2.0 years. The mean serum adiponectin level of all the participants was 4.67 ± 2.2 ng/mL with a range of 1.9 ng/mL to 10.0 ng/mL. Adiponectin was slightly higher in females than males (4.93 ± 2.4 ng/mL vs 4.45 ± 2.0 ng/mL, respectively; P = 0.223). In males, an inverse relationship was observed between adiponectin and increasing age, whereas in females, a positive correlation was noted (P = 0.637 vs P = 0.639, respectively). The body mass index (BMI) correlated negatively with adiponectin in all the subjects and across both the genders, but these were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Adiponectin varies with sex, age and BMI in pre-pubertal Nigerian children with normal BMI. Further local studies are needed to elucidate its role in the management of associated disease states.

Background: Since its discovery in late 2019, COVID-19 has claimed approximately three million lives worldwide, causing a significant economic burden and strain on health care delivery and services. Therefore, the COVID-19 vaccine may offer the potential to promote global recovery. Objective: To determine the acceptability of the COVID-19 vaccine among Nigerian doctors and the factors influencing the acceptance. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, an anonymous online survey was administered to medical doctors across the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria between 13 January and 31 January 2021, using the health belief model (HBM). Results: Out of 830 respondents, 38.8% were willing to take the COVID-19 vaccine, 36.0% were unsure, while the remaining 26.5% refused to take the vaccine. Following adjustments, males were more likely to take the vaccine (OR = 3.357; 95% CI 2.009-5.610; p = 0.0001), whereas increasing age, higher perceived viral virulence and perceived viral infectivity were observed to be significantly associated with less likelihood of accepting the vaccine. Respondents who believed in the efficacy of ivermectin were much less likely to receive the vaccine (OR = 0.217; 95% CI 0.108-0.436; p = 0.001). Concerns on vaccination safety were the main barriers to vaccine acceptability. Hypothetically addressing these concerns increased vaccine acceptance rates by approximately a third (34.6%) (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The proposed nationwide distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine may be met with poor vaccine acceptability among Nigerian medical practitioners. Measures specifically addressing vaccine safety concerns should be provided to allay fears and enhance the acceptability of the vaccine.