Obesity among Ghanaian women has climbed steadily for two decades, raising the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.
A new analysis of four rounds of the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey found that the share of women aged 15 to 49 who were obese rose from 9.9% in 2003 to 11.7% in 2008, 19.4% in 2014 and 23.0% in 2022. By the latest survey, close to one in four women in this age group was obese, more than double the level of 2003.
The study covered 15,467 women, including 5,204 in 2022. A body mass index of 30 or higher counted as obese.
Wealth was the sharpest dividing line. In 2022, women in the richest households had about seven times the odds of being obese compared with women in the poorest households. Rural women had 29% lower odds than urban women that year, and the risk climbed with age, with women in their forties the most affected. Women in the Northern Region were less likely to be obese than those in the Western Region.
The researchers link the rise to higher incomes, which they say pull people away from traditional diets and walking. They want stronger health education, more places to exercise and rules to limit sales of sugary drinks and fatty foods.
One caution matters. The increase between 2014 and 2022 was not statistically significant, so the clear message is the long climb since 2003, not a sudden recent jump. The data also show links, not causes, and do not include men or older women.
Research Scope
This article is based on a 2026 peer-reviewed journal article by researchers from the University of Health and Allied Sciences and the University of Ghana, held in UGSpace. It analyses four rounds of the nationally representative Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, covering 15,467 women aged 15 to 49 (5,204 in 2022). The trend can be read as national for women in that age group, but the study shows links rather than causes and does not cover men or older women.