Title: Evaluation of Health Promotion Intervention on Lifestyle Predictors of Ageing and Biological Age of Nigerian Adults

Biography:

Dr. Abiodun Bamidele Adelowo is an International Board-Certified Lifestyle Medicine Physician, a UK-certified Occupational Health and Safety practitioner, and a Public Health Specialist. He has more than 16 years of experience in the fields of Public Health Promotion and Lifestyle Medicine. His interest and work center around the prevention, control, and sometimes reversal of chronic noncommunicable diseases and in achieving healthy aging using evidence-based lifestyle interventions. Aside from his medical degree, he holds a Master’s in Public Health, and a Ph.D. in Health Education. He is presently running another Ph.D. in Public Health with the Texila American University, Guyana. He is a Fellow of the African Institute of Public Health, and presently the Research Secretary of the Society of Lifestyle Medicine of Nigeria. He has published several articles in many international journals. He is presently an Occupational Health Physician and Workplace Health Promotion coordinator in the Presidential Villa, State House Abuja, Nigeria. The world population is not only increasing in number but also in life expectancy. From 2015 to 2050, the percentage of the world's older population (60 years and above) will be expected to increase from 12% (900 million) to 22% (2.1 billion). Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is expected to account for one of the highest absolute numbers of the older population by 2050. Since older age is often associated with an increased risk of developing many chronic diseases, the world, and SSA in particular, may have a high burden of ‘sick’ older population in the nearest future. This may have significant negative impacts on the interconnected global health and economic systems. Studies have demonstrated that the aging process can be influenced by four basic determinants: genetics, environment, socio-demographic factors, and lifestyle practices. Out of these, lifestyle practices are the most important. Consequently, optimizing lifestyle practices through a structured health promotion intervention program may slow down the biological aging process and increase the possibility of healthy life lifestyle expectance among the target population.

Abstract

Statement of the Problem: Although aging is not a disease, it often increases the risk of developing many chronic diseases (such as cardiovascular diseases) and some infectious diseases (such as COVID-19). Studies have demonstrated that some lifestyle practices have the potential to either accelerate or slow down the aging process. Mitigating these lifestyle predictors of aging may be vital in the global efforts to achieve healthy life expectancy.  However, such a prospect has not been fully explored in sub-Saharan Africa. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of a health promotion intervention program on selected lifestyle predictors of aging and the estimated biological age of Nigerian adults.

Methodology and Theoretical Orientation: A pre-test post-test experimental research design with control was used to conduct a 14-week health promotion intervention on 82 Nigerian adults. The Free Radical Theory and Health Belief Model were used to focus the intervention on lifestyle modification. The statistics were analyzed at a 0.05 level of significance.

Findings: The intervention significantly improved the mean difference scores of the intervention groups’ diet quality (2.86, 95% CI: 9.44–10.16) after 6 weeks, which was sustained after 14 weeks (2.43, 95% CI: 9.03–9.62); physical activity after 6 weeks (0.39, 95% CI:1.71–2.01)) and after14 weeks (0.28, 95% CI:1.456–1.70); sleep quality after 6 weeks (-2.07, 95% CI:3.60–4.13) and after 14 weeks (-1.60, 95% CI:4.07–4.60); stress perception after 6 weeks (-2.86, 95% CI: 2.97–3.76) and after 14 weeks (-2.17, 95% CI:3.67–4.44); and social connectedness after 6 weeks (2.05, 95% CI:16.95–17.70) and after 14 weeks (2.38, 95% CI: 17.21–18.16). The intervention also significantly reduced the mean difference in the estimated biological age of the intervention group after 6 weeks (-2.97, 95% CI: 42.48–43.30) and after 14 weeks (-2.14, 95% CI:43.38–44.10).

Conclusion and Significance: The health promotion intervention program was effective in positively modifying the selected lifestyle predictors of aging and in reducing the estimated biological age of Nigerian adults. To increase the possibility of healthy aging among the citizen, such programs should be replicated in a different clusters of the country.