Dake Fidelia A A
Regional Institute for Population Studies, University of Ghana , Legon, Accra-Ghana.
J Public Health Afr. 2012 Mar 7;3(1):e12. doi: 10.4081/jphia.2012.e12.
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.
背景对健康结果的影响日益成为一个重要的研究领域。诸如空间分析等分析技术有助于解释不同背景和不同人群之间健康不平等的差异和动态变化。本文利用探索性空间数据分析技术，通过分析2008年加纳人口与健康调查的数据，探讨加纳女性体重指数的空间聚类情况。超重现象在城市地区比农村地区更为普遍。加纳近四分之一的聚类，大多位于南部地区，包含超重女性。生活在女性超重聚类地区的女性，更有可能居住在其他女性也超重的聚类地区附近。结果表明，城市环境可能是加纳城市地区肥胖率高的一个潜在促成因素。研究人员有必要在加纳的肥胖研究中纳入空间维度，尤其要关注城市环境。
