Cronicon OPEN ACCESS EC NUTRITION Research Article Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Staff of a Tertiary Institution in Kumasi, Ghana David Ben Kumah*, Solomon Sarpong Merepa, Beatrice Adamptey, Benjamin Brifa Bempong, Dillys Aku Dede Ame- ga, Reynolds Kwame Ablordeppey, Eugene Appenteng Osae and Ivon Walier Nuo-Ire Kuutiero Department of Optometry and Visual Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana *Corresponding Author: David Ben Kumah, Department of Optometry and Visual Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. Citation: David Ben Kumah., et al. “Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Staff of a Tertiary Institution in Kumasi, Ghana”. EC Nutrition 5.6 (2016): 1277-1281. Received: November 19, 2016; Published: November 25, 2016 Abstract The study aimed at investigating the prevalence and gender distribution of overweight and obesity among staff at the Kwame Nk- rumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). In a cross-sectional study using simple random sampling, 250 staff members of KNUST aged 25 to 60 years were selected. Height (m) and weight (kg) were measured using standard procedures and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Overweight and obesity were determined using WHO classification. The Statistical Package for Social Scientists version 20.0 was used to analyze data. Descriptive statistics and independent sample t-test were employed. The prevalence of overweight was 34.4% and that of obesity was 6.0% among the staff of KNUST. The difference in BMI between males and females was not significant (p > 0.05), but males were significantly taller and heavier than females (p < 0.05). A significant number of the subjects were overweight and obese and may be at risk of associated disease conditions. Keywords: Prevalence; Obesity; Overweight; Body Mass Index; Anthropometric Measurements Abbreviations BMI: Body Mass Index; KNUST: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology; WHO: World Health Organization Introduction Overweight and obesity have both been defined as abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat that may endanger one’s health [1]. The increasingly high prevalence and the enormous contribution to both morbidity and mortality, as well as the economic implications have made issues of obesity and overweight a public health concern [2]. From the World Health Organization fact sheet report, in 2004 there were over 1.9 billion adults (18 years and over) who were over- weight. Out of these, obesity was reported in over 200 million men and nearly 300 million women. About 65% of the world’s populations live in countries where overweight and obesity kill more people than underweight [1]. Some reports show that obesity has increased from 4.2% in 1990 to 6.7% in 2010 worldwide and is expected to reach 9.1% in 2020 [3]. In West Africa, the prevalence of obesity has increased rapidly during the last two decades and continues to increase. A recent study of the prevalence of obesity in West Africa indicated that between 2000 and 2004, 10% of West African adults were obese [4]. In Ghana, the prevalence of obesity has risen steadily from as low as 0.9% in the 1980s to about 14% in 2003 [5] and is more common among women than men. Some disease conditions have been associated with obesity. Left ventricular hypertrophy which may occur in the presence of systemic hypertension has also been shown to have a relation with clinically severe forms of obesity [6-8]. Hypertension, a chronic and often fatal