Exercise, Overweight and Obesity in Rural Communities, the Situation of Some Communities in the Central Region of Ghana

Abstract

Objective: The study aimed at finding the level of physical activity and the evidence of overweight and obesity and associated its sociodemographic factors in some rural communities in the central region of Ghana. Subjects: The study was a cross sectional survey involving a total of 470 respondents aged 18 to 91years (337 females and 133 males) in 7 rural communities in the Central Region of Ghana. Findings: Our study found that 42.1% of respondents engaged in some from of physical exercise and that the exercise of choice was walking. The incidences of obesity and overweight were 3.1% and 13.0% respectively in male and 14.9% and 26.6% respectively in females. Significant associations were found between the Body Mass Index (BMI) of respondents and the following factors; regular participation in physical activity (p=0.032), sex (<0.0001) and educational level in female (p=0.033). There were also significant associations between exercising and factors such as level of education (p<0.0001) and sex (<0.0001). Conclusion: A number of sociodemographic factors were found to have association with the BMI and regular participation in physical activity. Our findings also seem to suggest an increasing trend in weight gain particularly in the female rural population.