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Article

Associations Between Self-Perceived Psychosocial Stress and Markers of Adiposity in Ga Mashie, Urban Ghana: Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Population-Based Survey

by
Emeline Rougeaux
1,*,
Samuel Amon
2,3,
Leonard Baatiema
3,4,
Sandra Boatemaa Kushitor
5,6,
Mawuli Komla Kushitor
7,
Sedzro Kojo Mensah
2,
Rolando Leiva-Granados
1,
Akanksha A. Marphatia
1,
Jonathan C. K. Wells
8,
Carlos Salvador Grijalva-Eternod
1,9,
Irene Akwo Kretchy
10 and
Edward Fottrell
1
1
Institute for Global Health, University College London, London WC1N 1EH, UK
2
Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG 581, Accra, Ghana
3
Department of Health Policy, Planning & Management, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG 13, Accra, Ghana
4
Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
5
Department of Community Health, Ensign Global University, P.O.Box AK 136, Kpong, Ghana
6
Department of Food Science, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa
7
Fred N. Binka School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, P.O. Box 31, Ho, Ghana
8
Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London WC1N 1EH, UK
9
Department of Population Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK
10
Department of Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, University of Ghana, P.O.Box LG43, Accra, Ghana
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Obesities 2025, 5(3), 60; https://doi.org/10.3390/obesities5030060 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 13 June 2025 / Revised: 4 August 2025 / Accepted: 6 August 2025 / Published: 9 August 2025
Review Reports Versions Notes

Abstract

Prior research from Ghana suggests psychosocial stress is associated with lower body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC), both markers of adiposity, contrasting with meta-analyses showing positive associations in other settings. This study aimed to explore how stress was associated with markers of adiposity in urban Ghanaian adults. Data included 854 adults from the Contextual Awareness, Response and Evaluation Diabetes in Ghana survey carried out in November–December 2022 in Ga Mashie, a deprived area of the capital Accra. Associations between self-perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale 10, categorized into low and average–high stress) and BMI or WC-for-height ratio (WHR) were assessed using linear regression. Results were adjusted for survey design and confounders and stratified by sex. Greater stress was associated with higher BMI and WHR in females (adjusted coeff. [95% CI]: BMI: 2.3 [0.5, 4.0], WHR: 0.03 [0.00, 0.06]). No associations were found in males. These findings highlight the need to understand the complex interactions between gender, stress, and increasing burdens of obesity and other associated non-communicable diseases in urban African settings, with a view to designing context-specific interventions to reduce risk.
Keywords: stress; obesity; deprivation; urbanization; Ghana stress; obesity; deprivation; urbanization; Ghana

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MDPI and ACS Style

Rougeaux, E.; Amon, S.; Baatiema, L.; Kushitor, S.B.; Kushitor, M.K.; Mensah, S.K.; Leiva-Granados, R.; Marphatia, A.A.; Wells, J.C.K.; Grijalva-Eternod, C.S.; et al. Associations Between Self-Perceived Psychosocial Stress and Markers of Adiposity in Ga Mashie, Urban Ghana: Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Population-Based Survey. Obesities 2025, 5, 60. https://doi.org/10.3390/obesities5030060

AMA Style

Rougeaux E, Amon S, Baatiema L, Kushitor SB, Kushitor MK, Mensah SK, Leiva-Granados R, Marphatia AA, Wells JCK, Grijalva-Eternod CS, et al. Associations Between Self-Perceived Psychosocial Stress and Markers of Adiposity in Ga Mashie, Urban Ghana: Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Population-Based Survey. Obesities. 2025; 5(3):60. https://doi.org/10.3390/obesities5030060

Chicago/Turabian Style

Rougeaux, Emeline, Samuel Amon, Leonard Baatiema, Sandra Boatemaa Kushitor, Mawuli Komla Kushitor, Sedzro Kojo Mensah, Rolando Leiva-Granados, Akanksha A. Marphatia, Jonathan C. K. Wells, Carlos Salvador Grijalva-Eternod, and et al. 2025. "Associations Between Self-Perceived Psychosocial Stress and Markers of Adiposity in Ga Mashie, Urban Ghana: Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Population-Based Survey" Obesities 5, no. 3: 60. https://doi.org/10.3390/obesities5030060

APA Style

Rougeaux, E., Amon, S., Baatiema, L., Kushitor, S. B., Kushitor, M. K., Mensah, S. K., Leiva-Granados, R., Marphatia, A. A., Wells, J. C. K., Grijalva-Eternod, C. S., Kretchy, I. A., & Fottrell, E. (2025). Associations Between Self-Perceived Psychosocial Stress and Markers of Adiposity in Ga Mashie, Urban Ghana: Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Population-Based Survey. Obesities, 5(3), 60. https://doi.org/10.3390/obesities5030060

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