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. 2025 Aug 7;5(1):338.
doi: 10.1038/s43856-025-01082-4.

Long-term trends in obesity and overweight in women in Ghana from 2003-2023

Laura Ann Gray  1   2 , Joseph Prince Mensah  3 , Magdalena Opazo Breton  4 , Richmond Nii Okai Aryeetey  5 , Isaac Boadu  5 , Emmanuel Anongeba Anaba  5 , Afua Atuobi-Yeboah  5 , Robert Akparibo  3
Affiliations

Long-term trends in obesity and overweight in women in Ghana from 2003-2023

Laura Ann Gray et al. Commun Med (Lond). .

Abstract

Background: In Ghana, overweight and obesity prevalence among women (20-49 years) reached 50% in 2022, increasing from 40% in 2014. This study aims to understand what has driven previous trends in overweight and obesity among women of reproductive age in Ghana and to predict future trends that can help inform policy making and public health surveillance.

Methods: We used data from the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) containing information on women of reproductive age (aged 15 to 49 years). Data collected between 2003 and 2022 provided cohorts born between 1953 and 2007. Age-period-cohort (APC) analysis was used to disentangle the effects of age, time, and generation on trends in the odds of obesity and overweight.

Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity increases during the study period, especially with age, in all cohorts. In the APC analysis, the odds of obesity increase with age until age 42-43 years (odds ratio (OR): 9.37; 95% confidence interval (CI): 5.63-15.59, compared to 20-21 year olds) before levelling out. Accounting for age and birth cohort, the odds of overweight and obesity increase significantly over time between 2003 and 2015 (overweight OR: 1.76; 95% CI: 1.47-2.11, obesity OR: 2.27; 95% CI: 1.77-2.91), after which the effect levels out and appears to stabilise. There is no effect of birth cohort on the odds of overweight or obesity.

Conclusions: Although high, the increasing odds of obesity and overweight in Ghana appears to be stabilising. However, the increasing odds of obesity with age, suggest that an ageing population could mean that the prevalence will increase into the future.

Plain language summary

Overweight and obesity are increasing rapidly in Ghana, especially among women, leading to serious health problems. We wanted to understand why these rates are rising and predict future trends to help create effective health programs.We looked at health survey data from Ghanaian women aged 15–49 collected over two decades (2003-2022). We used a specialist method to see how age, time, and the generation a woman was born into influenced her weight status.We found an increase in overweight and obesity among Ghanaian women over time, particularly between 2003 and 2014. Women tend to gain weight as they age, but we found that changes over time were more important than generational differences.Early interventions could be crucial to promote healthier weight and prevent long-term health issues for women.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Period trends for proportion of women classified as having a healthy weight, overweight, obesity and underweight.
Study period 2003–2022. Analysis uses weighted data. Lines show prevalence of each weight status with 95% confidence intervals in shaded areas, n = 20837.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Age trends by 10-year birth cohort for the prevalence of obesity and overweight.
a Prevalence of obesity and (b) prevalence of overweight, n = 20837.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Age, period and cohort effects.
Odds Ratios (OR) – solid line, 95% confidence intervals - dashed lines. a Age effects, b period effects, c cohort effects for the APC analysis for obesity (BMI > 30) vs Healthy weight (18.5 < BMI ≤ 25) (n = 14,998), d age effects, e period effects, f cohort effects for the APC analysis for overweight (25 < BMI ≤ 30) vs Healthy weight (18.5 < BMI ≤ 25) (n = 16,953).
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References

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