Sociodemographic correlates of obesity among Ghanaian women

Abstract

Objective: To examine the sociodemographic correlates of obesity among Ghanaian women. Design: The 2003 and 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey data sets were used to examine the sociodemographic characteristics and the BMI of women aged 15-49 years using descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate analyses. Setting: Ghana is a West African country which is divided into ten administrative regions. The country is further divided into the northern and southern sectors. The northern sector includes the three northern regions (Northern, Upper East and Upper Westen regions) and the seven remaining regions form the southern sector. Subjects: Women aged 15-49 years whose BMI values were available. Results: The overall prevalence of obesity and overweight increased from 25?5 % in 2003 to 30?5 % in 2008. Obesity varied directly with age from 20 to 44 years. Women with higher education had the highest rate of obesity. Obesity was more common among women from wealthy households compared to women from poor households. Conclusions: Obesity and overweight were found to be more common among older women, urban women, married women, women with higher education and women from rich households. Adoption of healthy lifestyles and the implementation of policies that promote healthy living can help reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity.

Public Pedagogy Analysis in Coal-Rich Areas in Pakistan and China

“…Increasing effects of age and marital status on obesity confirm the existing literature for both developing and developed societies, since their effects do not vary upon development [10], [20]- [26]. In addition to these, the findings for urbanisation [21], [23]- [25] and social security [12], [26], [55] are in line with those obtained for developing societies, suggesting that urbanised and affluent women have relatively high obesity.…”

“…In addition, the effects of early marriage slightly increase at higher quantiles of obesity distribution. That number of children would make a notable contribution was expected, since there is a great deal in the literature about the increasing effect of reproductive history on obesity [20], [26] and there is a clear gap in the number of children between the two regions (Fig. 3).…”

“…Steyn et al [12], Dake et al [20] and Khan and Kraemer [26] investigated obesity in Kenya and in Ghana and in Bangladesh respectively, and all found that individuals in higher SES groups have higher obesity rates than their less-well-off counterparts. Additionally, Dake et al [20] and Khan and Kraemer [26] detected the positive effects of age, educational attainment, being married and reproductive history on obesity in Ghana and in Bangladesh. Finally, Iseri and Aslan [27] have also investigated obesity in Turkey.…”

“…Not working is used as the reference category in the models. Finally, a continuous variable has been generated for number of children ever born, since there is a notable literature about reproductive history [8], [20], [26].…”

“…Accordingly, their higher obesity may due to their better accessibility to obtain adequate foods [16], [20]. Additionally, there may be cultural values favoring fatness; that is, obesity may be a sign of health, wealth, social prestige or sexual attractiveness in developing societies and therefore, people may demand more food as they get richer [16].…”