Where do overweight women in Ghana live? Answers from exploratory spatial data analysis

Abstract

Contextual influence on health outcomes is increasingly becoming an important area of research. Analytical techniques such as spatial analysis help explain the variations and dynamics in health inequalities across different context and among different population groups. This paper explores spatial clustering in body mass index among Ghanaian women by analysing data from the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey using exploratory spatial data analysis techniques. Overweight was a more common occurrence in urban areas than in rural areas. Close to a quarter of the clusters in Ghana, mostly those in the southern sector contained women who were overweight. Women who lived in clusters where the women were overweight were more likely to live around other clusters where the women were also overweight. The results suggest that the urban environment could be a potential contributing factor to the high levels of obesity in urban areas of Ghana. There is the need for researchers to include a spatial dimension to obesity research in Ghana paying particular attention the urban environment.