Abstract:
Background: Overweight and physical inactivity are
major risk factors for non-communicable diseases.
However, little evidence on physical activity, and
overweight exists to support intervention in specific
sub-populations including adolescents in low-income
settings like Ghana. This study aimed at estimating
overweight and determining the pattern and level of
physical activity among senior high school students in
the Accra Metropolis.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the
Accra Metropolis, among senior high school students,
ages 15 to 19 years. Participants were selected using a
two-stage cluster sampling technique. Structured ques tionnaire and anthropometric measurement were em ployed to gather information for the study. Students
were considered as overweight if their Body Mass In dex (BMI) ≥ +1SD, and obese if BMI ≥ +2SD.
Results: Out of 444 students, 17% were classified as
engaging in low level physical activity, 49% in moder ate activity, and 34% in high level of physical activity.
Much of the activity in boys was recreational while
among girls, was due to domestic chores. The preva lence of overweight was 11.7%. Overweight preva lence was higher among female students (15.6%) com pared to 4.5% in males. Furthermore the risk of over weight was lower among students who engaged in high
physical activity than those engaged in low activity.
Overweight was independently associated with physi cal activity (p=0.01), sex (p=0.001) and age (p=0.01),
after controlling for age sex and physical activity and
diet.
Conclusion: Majority of students in the study engaged
in moderate to high physical activity. The prevalence
of overweight was 11.7%. Physical activity was sig nificantly related to overweight among students in the
study.
