Body Weight, Obesity Perception, and Actions to Achieve Desired Weight among Rural and Urban Ghanaian Adults

Abstract

Background. Accurate body weight perception is important to maintaining an ideal body weight. In Africa, a preference for a larger body size and its association with health and wellbeing has been well documented. It remains speculative if these perceptions have changed or improved and if differences exist among rural and urban dwellers. The main aim of this study was to assess the body weight and obesity perceptions among rural and urban Ghanaians. Methods. This cross-sectional study involved 565 participants. The Stunkard figure rating scale was used to assess the body weight perception of participants. Participants were to choose from the scale figures they perceived to represent their current body weight, desired body weight, ideal body weight, ideal look for a wealthy person, ideal look for a woman with children, and ideal look for a woman without children. Additionally, participants were asked to describe obesity and its threat to health in their terms. Responses of participants to the above questions are presented as frequencies. Differences between rural and urban participants as well as males and females with respect to the median figure chosen for each question were determined by Mann–Whitney U test. Results. The median age of participants was 40 (IQR 26). The prevalence of overweight and obesity observed among participants was 52.8%. The most frequently selected figure as current body image was figure 5 (23.5%). Figure 4 was most frequently chosen by both males (37.2%) and females (24.6%) as their desired body image (27.4%). Male participants (41.8%) chose figure 5 as ideal for their gender while females (27.4%) maintained figure 4 as ideal for their gender. Study participants associated overweight with wealth and childbirth, and attributed their current weights to hereditary (27%) and childbirth (27%). Most participants were not taking steps to achieve their desired body image, and only a few engaged in both dieting and exercise to lose weight. Majority of participants described obesity as the accumulation of fat (91.0%) and viewed it as a threat to health (91.0%). Differences were observed among rural and urban participants with regard to the figure chosen as ideal for a wealthy person. Conclusion. Results from this study show an improvement in obesity perception and the acknowledgment of obesity as a threat to health. There was a desire for a normal-weight figure among study participants. Attribution of current body weight to hereditary and childbirth seems to be a hindrance to the implementation of actions to achieve this normal figure weight. Public health education, screening for overweight and obesity, creation of supportive food environments, and culture-sensitive interventions are promising to curbing the obesity menace.

Multilevel Analysis of Urban–Rural Variations of Body Weights and Individual-Level Factors among Women of Childbearing Age in Nigeria and South Africa: A Cross-Sectional Survey

“…Thus, women who are employed with long working hours were found to be obese. The results of this study are consistent with previous studies from Ghana [ 58 , 60 ], South Asian [ 51 , 52 , 55 ], and sub-Saharan Africa countries [ 2 , 45 ].…”

“…Consistent with other studies conducted in other African countries, we found that South African women of childbearing age who attained secondary or higher education were more likely to be overweight/obese, similar to studies from Ghana [ 58 , 60 ], Bangladesh [ 52 , 53 ], and Ethiopia [ 6 , 40 , 67 ]. The likely reasons for this study finding in Nigeria and South Africa are that women with higher education are more likely to have a higher socio-economic status and material resources and have ready access to energy-dense nutrition and sugary beverages, as well as a more sedentary paying job.…”

“…This is also consistent with other study reports in low- and middle-income countries [ 54 ]. This might be due to the fact that residing in rural areas is one of the determinant factors significantly associated with a high prevalence of underweight in this study and in other studies [ 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 ].…”

“…The prevalence of overweight/obesity was comparatively greater in urban than in rural settings [ 12 ]. Thus, multiple factors are likely to contribute to the increased prevalence of overweight/obesity in urban populations, including the presence of modern communication facilities, increased availability of technology, easy access to energy-rich food, reduced levels of physical activity, and adoption of a sedentary lifestyle [ 57 , 58 ]. Studies revealed a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity among South African women of childbearing age compared with women from other African countries [ 43 , 59 , 60 ]; this may be as a result of nutritional and epidemiological shifts, which are determined by factors such as demographic variations, rising earnings, suburbanization, unhealthy lifestyles, and consumption of highly processed diets, which appear to be strong drivers of a prevailing overweight and obesity epidemic among women of childbearing age in South Africa.…”

Assessment of health-related quality of life among obese patients in Abha, Saudi Arabia

“…The increase in obesity rate and frequency are related to many causes like socioeconomic status, married life, and other lifestyle factors. [ 2 3 4 5 6 7 ]…”