Over the past several decades there has been a global dietary shift, occurring at
different rates across time and space. These changes are reflective of the nutrition
transition—a series of potentially adverse changes in diet, health and physical activity. These
dietary shifts have been associated with significant health consequences, as seen by the
global rise in nutrition-related non-communicable diseases (NR-NCDs) such as diabetes,
hypertension, cancer, coronary heart disease as well as obesity. Clinical studies have
confirmed that overweight and obese individuals are at increased risk for diabetes and
hypertension, among other cardiovascular diseases. However, these linkages between the
nutrition transition and health are not spatially random. They vary according to personal
characteristics (“who you are”) and the neighborhood environment in which you live (“where
you are”). Leveraging existing demographic and health resources, in this project I aim to
investigate the relationship between the food retail environment and health outcomes among
a representative sample of urban Ghanaian women ages 18 and older, normally resident in
the Accra Metropolitan Area (AMA), using a mixed methods spatial approach. Data for this
study are drawn primarily from the 2008-09 Women’s Health Study of Accra (WHSA II)
which was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
(NICHD) (John R. Weeks, Project Director/Principal Investigator). It was conducted as a
joint collaboration between the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research
(ISSER) at the University of Ghana, the Harvard School of Public Health and San Diego
State University. Results from this study highlights the importance of addressing the high
prevalence of hypertension among adult women in Accra and should be of concern to both
stakeholders and the public. Older populations, overweight and obese individuals, those with
partners living at home, limited number of food retailers in one’s neighborhood and living in
close proximity to a modern food retailer all increase the risk of hypertension among women
sampled in WHSA-II.