Abstract
BackgroundObesity has been described as an epidemic and a major public health concern globally. Distorted self-perceived weight status can negatively impact an individual’s decision to lose weight as well as adoption of healthful weight management attitudes. This study described self-perceived weight status among adults working in civil service departments in Tamale, Ghana, and compared it to their classification based on WHR. It also examined associations of distorted self-perceived weight status with weight loss attitudes, socio-demographic variables and knowledge levels on the health effects of overweight and obesity.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was undertaken from January 2011 to July 2011 among a sample of 186 civil servants living in Tamale. Out of the sample, 121 were men and 65 were women. Participants’ self-perceived weight status, socio-demographic and weight loss attitudes were assessed by means of a 10-item questionnaire. Participants’ waist and hip circumferences were measured with appropriate tools and computed into waist hip ratio (WHR) and classified based on WHO classifications.ResultsMore than 80% of the participants were aged below 40 years. Generally, 56.5% (n = 105) participants had normal weight and 31.2% (n = 58) were centrally obese. The proportion of participants being centrally obese was higher in women compared to men (p < 0.0001). Forty four percent of the studied population had a distorted self-perceived weight status. Less than10% of participants self-perceived themselves as overweight/obese, in which over 47% were, in fact, overweight/obese as measured by WHR. Factors associated with distorted self-perceived weight status were being overweight/obese (Crude OR = 97.3; (35.8-264.6; p < 0.0001), aged < 40 years (Crude OR = 2.8; 95% CI = 1.3-6.5; p = 0.0102) and having inadequate knowledge on the health effects of overweight/obesity (Crude OR = 3.7; CI = 1.3-11.0; p = 0.0114). Weight loss attitudes and methods used to lose weight were not significantly associated to self-perceived weight status and WHR measured weight status.ConclusionsSelf-perceived and WHR measured weight status of participants did not conform. Distorted self-perceived weight status was not associated to weight loss attitudes but to being overweight/obese, being younger (<40 years) and having inadequate knowledge on the health effects of overweight/obesity. Educating people on accurate weight perception and the health effects of overweight/obesity should be considered in designing public health strategies to curb the rising prevalence of overweight/obesity and other non-communicable diseases in Ghana.
Highlights
Obesity has been described as an epidemic and a major public health concern globally
This study investigated the weight perception of weight among adults working in civil service departments in Tamale, Ghana and compared to their weight classifications based on waist hip ratio (WHR)
Using univariate analysis, having an age below 40 years (OR = 2.8; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.3-6.5; p = 0.0102) and knowledge on the health effects of obesity (OR = 3.7; CI = 1.3-11.0; p = 0.0114) were the variables that significantly increased the risk of having a distorted self-perceived weight status
Summary
Obesity has been described as an epidemic and a major public health concern globally. This study described self-perceived weight status among adults working in civil service departments in Tamale, Ghana, and compared it to their classification based on WHR. It examined associations of distorted self-perceived weight status with weight loss attitudes, socio-demographic variables and knowledge levels on the health effects of overweight and obesity. Recent studies indicate that the prevalence of obesity in the US has increased from 12.0% to 19.8% [4,5] and half of its adult population is overweight or obese [6]. Several studies have revealed that the prevalence of obesity in Ghana is increasing especially among women [10,11,12,13,14,15]
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