Abstract:
Chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are increasingly becoming a major public health problem in Ghana. The increase in the prevalence of some modifiable risk factors has been linked to the rising prevalence of NCDs in Ghana. In this chapter we review empirical studies on the major risk factors of NCDs in Ghana. We conducted a standard literature review of published empirical studies on the modifiable risk factors of hypertension and diabetes (the major chronic NCDs in Ghana). We searched for published research on NCD risk factors in Ghana on PubMed. The findings suggest that obesity, smoking, alcohol consumption and physical inactivity are increasing in prevalence even though there is paucity of data on these risk factors in Ghana. In most studies on chronic NCDs in Ghana, these risk factors have been associated with the prevalence of hypertension and diabetes in particular. Qualitative studies have also indicated that lay healthy individuals and people living with chronic NCDs are aware of most of the risk factors but do not regard obesity as a risk factor of NCDs. Limitations exist in the knowledge and research of modifiable risk factors and their implications on chronic NCDs. We recommend more community-based studies to establish specific risk factors of a population so as to develop specific primary and secondary prevention interventions.