ArticleBMC public health2016
Urban-rural and geographic differences in overweight and obesity in four sub-Saharan African adult populations: a multi-country cross-sectional study.
Article in BMC public health, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 85 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
85 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effectiveness of obesity interventions in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-analyses.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Prevalence of obesity, hypertension and diabetes among people living with HIV in South Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2023Pooled it
- Prevalence, trends and distribution of lifestyle cancer risk factors in Uganda: a 20-year systematic review.BMC cancer · 2023Pooled it
- The Healthy Aging Adult South Africa report card: a systematic review of the evidence between 2013 and 2020 for middle-aged South African men and women.Cardiovascular journal of AfricaPooled it
- Socio-demographic determinants, mediators and moderators of body image dissatisfaction and distortion in Black South African women aged 18 years and older: SANHANES-1.BMC public health · 2026Observational
- A Stratification Method for Identifying Subgroups at High-Risk for Type 2 Diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Adaptations to an implementation study for integrating hypertension management into HIV care in Lagos, Nigeria: application of the FRAME.Implementation science communications · 2026Article
- Spatial distribution of central obesity in rural and peri urban communities of Botswana: a nested Botswana Combination Prevention Project (BCPP) cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2026Observational
- Prevalence, time trends and associated factors of adult overweight and obesity in 36 countries in the WHO African region from 2003 to 2022: a study of 54 WHO STEPS surveys representing 156 million adults.BMJ global health · 2026Article
- Bayesian Spatial Conditional Logistic Regression Modelling of Overweight/Obesity Prevalence and Determinants Among Women in Ghana, Accounting for Contraceptive Use.Global health, epidemiology and genomics · 2026Article
- Prevalence and determinants of obesity among women aged 15-49 years in the Ashanti region, Ghana: Analysis of the 2022 Ghana demographic and health survey.SAGE open medicine · 2026Article
- Prevalence and determinants of overweight and obesity among women of reproductive age in Rwanda: analysis of the 2019/2020 Demographic and Health Survey.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2025Article
- Prevalence and associated factors of overweight and obesity among adult women in Tanzania from the 2022 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Modeling determinants of accessibility for healthcare services in rural and urban areas of Dodoma, Tanzania.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Trends and economic inequalities in obesity prevalence in Ghana: a cross-sectional study spanning 2008-2022.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2025Article
- A multivariate non-linear decomposition analysis of urban-rural disparities in overweight/obesity among men aged 20-49 in Ghana.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in ankylosing spondylitis: a multi national meta-analysis study.Diabetology & metabolic syndrome · 2025Review
- Urban health inequities and healthy longevity: traditional and emerging risk factors across the cities and policy implications.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2025Review
- Double burden of malnutrition among under-five children in Eastern and Southern African countries.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Global, regional, and national prevalence of adult overweight and obesity, 1990-2021, with forecasts to 2050: a forecasting study for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.Lancet (London, England) · 2025Article
25 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
18 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundOverweight and obesity are on the rise in developing countries including sub-Saharan Africa. We undertook a four-country survey to show the collective burden of these health conditions as they occur currently in sub-Saharan Africa and to determine the differences between urban and rural populations and other socio-economic factors.
methodsParticipants were nurses in two hospitals in Nigeria (200), school teachers in South Africa (489) and Tanzania (229), and village residents in one peri-urban (297) and one rural location in Uganda (200) who completed a standardised questionnaire. Their height and weight were measured and body mass index calculated. Factor analysis procedure (Principal component) was used to generate a wealth index. Univariate and multivariate analyses with binary logistic regression models were conducted to examine the associations between potential correlates and the prevalence of overweight and obesity with 95 % confidence intervals.
resultsThe prevalence of overweight and obese (combined) was 46 %, 48 %, 68 %, 75 % and 85 % in rural Uganda, peri-urban Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania and South Africa (SA), respectively. Rural Uganda, Peri- urban Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania and SA had obesity prevalence of 10 %, 14 %, 31 %, 40 % and 54 %, respectively (p < 0.001). Overall, prevalence of overweight was 374 (31 %) and obesity, 414 (34 %). Female sex was a predictor of overweight and obesity (combined) in peri-urban Uganda [AOR = 8.01; 95 % CI: 4.02, 15.96) and obesity in rural Uganda [AOR = 11.22; 95%CI: 2.27, 55.40), peri-urban Uganda [AOR = 27.80; 95 % CI: 7.13, 108.41) and SA [AOR = 2.17; 95 % CI: 1.19, 4.00). Increasing age was a predictor of BMI > =25 kg/m
conclusionThe high prevalence of overweight and obesity in these sub-Saharan African countries and the differentials in prevalence and risk factors further highlights the need for urgent focused intervention to stem this trend, especially among women, professionals and urban dwellers.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.