Association of breastfeeding duration with overweight and obesity among women in Ghana.

Background: There is a general concurrence on the health benefits that breastfeeding confers to children, including offering maximal protection against obesity across their life course. However, the scientific evidence on similar benefits for women who breastfeed their children remains inconclusive. This study contributes to the discourse by examining the association of breastfeeding duration with overweight and obesity among women in Ghana.

Healthcare utilization in Ghana: Insights from the 2017 Ghana Living Standard Survey.

Introduction: The persistence of healthcare utilization disparities in Ghana despite several policy efforts highlights the urgency of understanding its determinants to enhance equitable health access. We sought to examine the determinants of healthcare utilization in Ghana.

Methods: We used the 2017 Ghana Living Standard Survey (GLSS) data.

Neonatal sepsis in a tertiary health facility in Cape Coast, Ghana.

Background: Neonatal Sepsis remains a significant burden globally, accounting for over 2.5 million neonatal deaths annually, with low-and middle-income countries (LMIC) including Ghana disproportionately affected. The current study sought to ascertain the prevalence of neonatal sepsis and associated factors based on analysis of institutional records from Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH) in Ghana.

HIV status and knowledge of cervical cancer among women in Ghana.

Background: Cervical cancer remains a disease of significant concern to women's health. The aim of this study was to identify predictors of knowledge of cervical cancer among women living with HIV and those with negative or unknown HIV status at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH).

Methods: This study was based on a larger hospital-based analytical cross-sectional study conducted at the antiretroviral therapy (ART) and gynaecology clinics of the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital in Ghana.

Culture and pandemic control at cross-roads: navigating the burial guidelines for COVID-19-related deaths in a Ghanaian setting.

Background: Despite the large volume of scientific evidence on the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated high morbidity and mortality, little is known about the sociocultural disruptions which ensued. The current study explored the nuanced navigation of the COVID-19-related death and burial protocols and its impact on traditional burial and funeral rites in Ghana.

Methods: This qualitative study was based on the 'focused' ethnographic design.

Decolonising vaccine production: Unpacking Ghanaians' support for made-in-Africa vaccines.

Localisation of vaccine production is essential worldwide, but it is particularly crucial for Africa. This continent is more vulnerable to disease burdens and also lags behind other continents regarding access to vaccines. Moreover, many people in Africa have a long-standing apathy towards locally made products and services.

Preceding birth interval, timing and number of antenatal contacts in Africa, 2010-2020.

Background: Utilization of adequate and quality prenatal healthcare services confers critical benefits to women and their unborn children. However, utilization rates remain low in many countries in Africa. Several studies have attempted to understand the primary drivers behind these low statistics.

Prevalence and characterization of asymptomatic thyroid nodules in Assin North District, Ghana.

Background: Ultrasound is now the initial imaging modality of choice for detection and characterization of lesions of the thyroid gland. Ultrasound imaging studies of the thyroid gland report varied prevalence of asymptomatic thyroid nodules (ATN), ranging from 20 to 67%. This study estimated the prevalence, characterized and determined factors associated with ATN in selected communities in the Assin North Municipality, Central Region, Ghana.

A community-based ultrasound determination of normal thyroid volumes in the adult population, Assin North District, Ghana.

Introduction: the purpose of this study was to measure thyroid volumes among normal sub-population of Ghanaians using ultrasonography in order to help provide preliminary local thyroid gland volume reference data for use in Ghana.

Methods: this was a cross-sectional study in which the thyroid glands of 320 normal adults aged 18 to 95 years from six (6) communities in the Assin North District of Ghana were examined using ultrasonography. The volumes of the left and right lobes were summed to constitute the total thyroid volume.

Overweight/obesity among 15- to 24-year-old women in Ghana: 21-year trend, future projections and socio-demographic correlates.

Although developing countries are experiencing some of the fastest rises in the prevalence of adult overweight and obesity, little is known about the pace of the problem among young people in transition from adolescence to adulthood. This study examined the trend and associated socio-demographic predictors of overweight/obesity (BMI ≥25kg/m2) from 1993 to 2014 among women aged 15-24 years in Ghana and projected the future prevalence from 2019 to 2040. Descriptive statistics, the arithmetic linear change model, and binary logistic regression were applied to data on women aged 15-24 years from five nationally representative Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 1993 (N=488), 1998 (N=517), 2003 (N=1832), 2008 (N=1693) and 2014 (N=1491).

Sex composition of living children in a matrilineal inheritance system and its association with pregnancy intendedness and postpartum family planning intentions in rural Ghana.

Background: Sex composition of living children within the context of "sex preference" and its association with various reproductive health outcomes has been extensively studied in South and South East Asia. Although sex preference has been observed in sub-Saharan Africa, there is paucity of research on sex composition of living children and its association with reproductive health behaviours and outcomes, particularly in a matrilineal inheritance system. The purpose of the study was to explore the existence of sex preference in a matrilineal inheritance system.

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN MARITAL STATUS AND HYPERTENSION IN GHANA.

Hypertension is a significant contributor to the global burden of cardiovascular and related target organ diseases such as heart failure, coronary heart disease, stroke and kidney failure, and their associated premature morbidity, mortality and disability. Marital status is an important social characteristic known to predict a range of health outcomes including cardiovascular disease. However, little is known about its impact on hypertension in sub-Saharan Africa.

Television exposure and overweight/obesity among women in Ghana.

Background: Although the public health importance of the association between television (TV) viewing and obesity and/or related outcomes have been demonstrated in both cross-sectional and prospective studies elsewhere, similar studies are lacking within the African region. With the view to fill this gap in the literature, the current study explored the association between TV exposure and overweight/obesity among Ghanaian women.

Methods: Based on a sample of 4158 women, descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression were applied to data on TV ownership, TV viewing frequency, and body mass index (BMI) measures from the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) to explore the association between TV exposure and overweight/obesity among Ghanaian women.

Male Involvement in Maternal Health Care at Anomabo, Central Region, Ghana.

Background: Globally, male involvement in maternal health care services remains a challenge to effective maternal health care accessibility and utilization.

Objective: This study assessed male involvement in maternal health care services and associated factors in Anomabo in the Central Region of Ghana.

Methods: Random sampling procedures were employed in selecting 100 adult male respondents whose partners were pregnant or had given birth within twelve months preceding the study.

Prevalence of helicobacter pylori infection among children living in a rural setting in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: Helicobacter pylori infection affects more than half of the world's population. It is generally acquired during childhood with no symptoms but has long- term clinical sequelae. This study estimated the prevalence of H.

Perceived ideal body size of Ghanaian women: "Not too skinny, but not too fat".

Body size issues are gaining public health attention because of the fast rising epidemic of overweight and obesity across the globe. This study explored Ghanaian women's subjective perceptions regarding ideal body size for women. A purposive sampling strategy was employed in recruiting 36 women across the body weight spectrum from Tamale (n = 17) and Accra (n = 19) in Ghana.

TIMING OF SEXUAL DEBUT AMONG UNMARRIED YOUTHS AGED 15-24 YEARS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA.

This study aimed to contribute to the evidence on the timing of sexual debut in young people in sub-Saharan African countries. Data were extracted from 34 nationally representative surveys conducted in the region between 2006 and 2014. The study sample comprised unmarried women (n=167,932) and men (n=76,900) aged 15-24 years.

Socio-demographic trends in overweight and obesity among parous and nulliparous women in Ghana.

Background: Overweight and obesity are among the leading threats to global health because of their association with increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Much of the research on overweight and obesity among women largely generalize without due cognisance to differences in their reproductive history. This study explored differences in trends in overweight/obesity, and associated factors between parous and nulliparous women in Ghana.

Effects of planned, mistimed and unwanted pregnancies on the use of prenatal health services in sub-Saharan Africa: a multicountry analysis of Demographic and Health Survey data.

Objectives: We analysed the extent of planned, mistimed and unwanted pregnancies and how they predict optimal use of prenatal (timing and number of antenatal) care services in 30 African countries.

Methods: We pooled data from Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 30 African countries between 2006 and 2015. We described the extent of mistimed and unwanted pregnancies and further used mixed effects logistic and Poisson regression estimation techniques to examine the impacts of planned, mistimed and unwanted pregnancies on the use of prenatal health services.

Do ethnicity and polygyny contribute to justification of men beating women in Ghana?

Violence against intimate partners threatens public health and social cohesion, and its prevalence could increase with an attitude of justification of such violence. The objective of this article was to use religion and ethnicity as proxies for culture to examine Ghanaian women's acceptance of being beaten. We employed descriptive and binary logistic regression statistics applied to Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey data collected in 2011 in Ghana.