Lifestyle Risk Factors of General and Abdominal Obesity in Students of the School of Medicine and Health Science of the University of Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana
This study evaluated the prevalence of general and abdominal obesity among students of the University for Development Studies, School of Medicine and Health Sciences (UDS-SMHS), Tamale, Ghana. Also, lifestyle risk factors for the two obesity indices were investigated. This study was conducted among a sample of 646 students. Anthropometric measures of weight, height, and waist circumference were appropriately assessed. The prevalence of general and abdominal obesity was 1.9% and 4.2%, respectively. Risk factors of general obesity were being female (crude OR = 6.9, 95% CI = 1.85–25.80, ), engaging in light PA (OR = 12.45, 95% CI = 2.96–52.41, ), being aged 28–37 years (OR = 5.37, 95% CI = 1.39–20.68, ), nonintake of coffee (OR = 4.1, 95% CI = 1.10–15.28, ), being married (OR = 5.7, 95% CI = 1.48–22.02, ), and being abdominally obese (OR = 02.7, 95% CI = 25.61–11.60, ). Risk factors for abdominal obesity were being female, being married, having general obesity, and nonintake of coffee. Abdominal obesity was more prevalent than general obesity. Risk factors included being female, married, and generally obese and nonintake of coffee. 1. Introduction Obesity has become a disease of public health concern for both developed and developing countries. Globally, obesity has been estimated to be the fifth leading cause of mortality [1]. The World Health Organization [2] estimates that 1.1 billion adults living in both developed and developing countries are overweight in which 300 million of them are obese. The prevalence of obesity in the USA has increased from 12.0% to 19.8% [3, 4] and half of its adult population are now overweight or obese [5]. An obesity prevalence of 10% has been reported in West Africa [6] and specifically 18% in the Republic of Benin [6]. In Ghana, a study conducted by Mogre et al. [7] in Tamale, Ghana, reported the prevalence of central obesity to be 31.2% among civil servants. Several studies have revealed that the prevalence of obesity in Ghana and other sub-Saharan African countries is increasing especially among women [7–9]. This growing epidemic is not only found in adults but also among children and young adults. The prevalence of obesity among school-aged children has more than tripled since the 1970s [10]. Several studies have demonstrated the childhood roots of adult obesity [11, 12]. Studies have reported a rising prevalence of childhood obesity in Ghana and other sub-Saharan countries [13–15]. However, there is limited data regarding obesity in the young adult group in Ghana. The few studies available used only BMI to assess the
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