Background Obesity (body mass index greater than or equal to 30kg/m2) is a major global public health problem. It is spreading very fast in low- and middle-income countries and has reached world record levels in some of them. In Ghana, it has increased by over 65% among urban women in the past three decades. This study investigated the effects of social determinants of health on obesity among women in urban Ghana.

Methods The study analysed the Ghana demographic and health survey data. These are nationally representative data collective every five years across low- and middle-income countries. A total of 1,204 urban women were included in the analysis. The outcome variable of interest was body mass index. We used logistic regression to model the effects of the various social determinants of health on obesity.

Results The results showed that 40% (95% confidence interval (CI)=25.4, 57.0) and 36.7% (95% CI=25.6, 49.3) of women who had higher education and those whose partners had higher education suffered from obesity, respectively. Women living in rich households had a five times higher prevalence of obesity than those in poor households (28.8% vs 5.7%). Further, 33.4% (95% CI=18.5, 19.3) of women who occupied managerial positions were obese. The results from the multivariable logistic regression analysis suggested that compared to women in poor households, those in rich households were 3.4 times (95% CI=1.31, 8.97) more likely to suffer from obesity. Women whose main occupation was agriculture were 81% (aOR=0.19; 95% CI=0.034, 0.99) less likely to suffer from obesity than those with no occupation.

Conclusions The results suggest that the various SDHs significantly influence women’s obesity. Women and partner education levels, occupying a managerial position, and living in rich households increase the risk of obesity. Interventions to address the rising obesity in urban Ghana should have specific packages targeted at these sub-groups.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

This study did not receive any funding.

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The data sets generated and/or analysed during the current study are available in the DHS program repository, https://dhsprogram.com/data/available-datasets.cfm. Data are accessible free of charge upon registration with the Demographic and Health Survey program (The DHS Program). The registration is done on the DHS website indicated above.

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