Obesity in Adult Residents of Accra, Ghana

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of obesity in Ghanaian adults.

Design: 6300 adults, aged 25 years and older, were selected by random cluster sampling using electoral enumeration areas and listings of adults.

Setting: Two urban and one rural community in the Greater Accra region of Ghana.

Subjects And Methods: 4733 (males=1860, females=2873) adult Ghanaians participated. Height and weight were determined for subjects wearing light clothing and without shoes.

Results: The mean age and BMI were 44.3 years and 24.4 kg/m2, respectively. Women, though younger, had higher BMI values compared to males (25.6 vs 22.6 kg/m2, respectively; P<.001). The overall crude prevalence of overweight (25.0-29.9 kg/m2) and obesity (> or = 30 kg/m2) were 23.4% and 14.1% for females and males, respectively. The rates of overweight (27.1% vs 17.5%) and obesity (20.2% vs 4.6%) were both higher in women than men. The age-standardized prevalence of obesity in Ghanaians was 13.6%. Obesity increased with age, peaking in the 55-64-year age group. The first to fourth BMI quartiles were: < or = 20.6, 20.7-23.3, 23.4-27.2, and > or = 27.3 kg/m2, respectively. At all ages, more females (32.9%) than males (12%) were placed within the 4th BMI quartile. Residents from the high-class residential area had higher BMI, compared to subjects from the lower class suburb. Also, urban residents had higher BMI compared to rural subjects.

Conclusion: Overweight and obesity are common in Ghanaians, particularly among females, the elderly, and urban dwellers. Further work is needed to ascertain the determinants of overweight and obesity in Ghanaians.