Obesity in Ghana and Africa

Welcome to the latest episode of the ScHARR Communicable Research Podcast and for this episode we are going to explore the topic obesity and nutrition policy. To discuss this, we are joined by Dr Robert Akparibo from ScHARR and and Professor Richmond Aryeetey from The University of Ghana.

Dr. Robert Akparibo is a Senior University Tutor and Associate Professor in Global Health and Nutrition Epidemiology based within the Section of Public Health, at ScHARR. He is a Registered Nutritionist with the UK Academy for Nutrition and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academic. Over the last few years, Dr Akparibo and his colleagues have been exploring the nutrition transition in Africa with the aim of understanding what drives this. In one area he has investigated the food environment in Ghana and the influences of this on dietary behaviours and practices, and the implication of these behaviours on Non communicable diseases such as diabetes and cancer.

Professor Richmond Aryeetey is a Public Health Nutrition Specialist and Head of the Population, Family, and Reproductive Health Department at the University of Ghana. He has been with the School of Public Health since 2007. He has a PhD in Human Nutrition from Iowa State University. His research focuses on Food systems and Nutrition policy, with emphasis on the diet and nutrition of infants and young children. Professor Aryeetey is a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Science and is a Co-Chair of the Task Team for Ghana’s first Food-Based Dietary Guidelines. He is also a Co-Chair of the WHO Guidelines Development Committee on the upcoming Global Guidelines on Complementary feeding.