(P32-011-23) Dietary Habits of Adults Who Engage in Physical Activity at Peduase Hills, Aburi-Ghana

Objectives: The main objective of this study was to investigate the dietary habits of adults who engage in physical activity at Peduase hill, Aburi-Ghana.

Methods: A semi-structured questionnaire was used in collecting data from the participants who were engaging in physical activity at the Peduase Hills (Aburi) (n = 110). Data collected included socio-demographics, physical activity level (using the IPAQ), eating habits, lifestyle, dietary pattern, and anthropometry (weight and height). WHO Anthroplus v. 1.0.4 was used to
determine BMI. Data analysis was done with SPSS v. 23. Pearson’s chi-square was used to find the association between nutrient intake and nutritional status.

Results: 67% of the study participants had moderate to high physical activity levels with 23% having low physical activity levels. Among the participants, 63.6% fell in the normal BMI category, 33.6% were obese and 2.7% were underweight. 58% of the participants had good eating habits and 19.1% had bad eating habits while 7.3% and 15.5% represent excellent and very good eating habits of the study participants respectively. There was no significant association between nutritional status and macronutrient intake of the participants.

Conclusions: Physical activity was low and moderate (31.8% and 40% respectively) among a majority of the study participants and only a few of the participants met the criteria for high-level physical activity. This study did not find any significant association between the level of physical activity and the nutritional status of the study participants who engage in physical activity at the Peduase Hills (Aburi Municipality). In order to increase the physical activity levels of the study participants, the participants should engage in physical activity at least three times a week and not only on weekends as most of them did.

Funding Sources: The research was self-funded by the author and co-authors.