Prevalence of Excess Weight Gain and Associated Risk Factors Among Postmenopausal Women: A Population-based Study in Ghana

Abstract

Background:Excess weight (obesity and overweight) is a pervasive condition that is considered a global epidemic and a threat to public health. Furthermore, numerouschanges in fat deposits occur with the advent of menopause, leading to a change in the distribution of body fat. Therefore this study determined the prevalence of excess weight gain and associated risk factors among postmenopausal women (PW) in Ghana.Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted over five months at Bono-East regional capital, Techiman in Ghana. A total of 378 postmenopausal women were recruited for this study. Validated questionnaires were administered to obtain the socio-demographic data from each study participant. Anthropometrics such as body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) among participants were also determined. Data were inputted into excel, and analysis was done using IBM SPSS 25.Results: The mean age of study participants was 60.09±6.24 years with the 51-60 years age group having the highest frequency (48.8%). Out of the total study participants, 26.8%, 8.2% and 9.0% with desirable weight were recorded using BMI, WHtR, and WHR respectively. And there was no significant difference (P=0.999) between the proportions for WHtR and WHR. However, the distribution of study participants with desirable weight by BMI was significantly higher than that of WHtR (P=0.0031) and WHR (P=0.0063). BMI, WHtR and WHR recorded participants with the excess weight of 73.2%, 91.8%, and 91.0% respectively out of the total study participants and there was no significant difference among the stratified study participants. Participants age ≤50 years were at a high risk of been obese even though it was not significant. Study participants with > 15 years of the postmenopausal stage have a high chance of been obese for BMI and WHtR but not WHR.Conclusions: The prevalence rates of obesity and overweight were higher among postmenopausal women using the WHR than BMI and WHtR. Participants age ≤ 50 years, parity and those from the Ga tribe were also at a higher risk of having abdominal obesity.