Table 1. Characteristics And Contextual Details Of All The Included Studies.
| Study | Sample size total (women) | Study design | Country of origin | Inclusion criteria | Aim of study | Outcome measured (comparison evaluated) |
| Agyemang et al.34 | 1 471 (ND) | Cross sectional | Ghana and Netherlands | Urban and rural adults and their Netherlands counterparts ≥ 17 years | To assess the differences in overweight and obesity between Dutch–Ghanaian migrants in Netherlands and their rural/urban counterparts in Ghana. | BMI, obesity (urban vs rural population with their European counterparts (males vs females) |
| Amoah33 | 4 731 (2 874) | Cross sectional | Ghana | Urban and rural adults ≥ 25 years | To determine the association between obesity and socio-demographic factors in Ghana | BMI, %obesity prevalence (urban vs rural population, males vs females) |
| Asfaw2 | 3 190 (ND) | Health survey | South Africa and Senegal | Adults in South Africa and Senegal ≥ 18 years | The effects of obesity on doctordiagnosed chronic diseases in Africa | BMI, age, doctor-diagnosed comorbidities (obese vs non-obese population) |
| Fezeu et al.10 | 3 160 (ND) | Cross sectional | Cameroon | Urban and rural adults ≥ 24 years | To compare the 10-year changes in the distribution of adiposity in rural vs urban Cameroonian population | BMI, WC (urban vs rural population, males vs females) |
| Ibhazehiebo et al.36 | 120 (60) | Case–control | Nigeria | 18–22 years | To determine the association of obesity with premature increase in BP | BMI, weight, SBP, DBP (obese vs non-obese, males vs females) |
| Jackson et al.30 | 2 855 (ND) | Cross sectional | Cameroon, Jamaica and UK | Age 25–74 years; not pregnant and of African descent by ancestry, observed race and self-assignment | To determine the relationship between diet and obesity | BMI, socio-demographic factors (rural vs urban and Africans in diaspora) with age taken into account |
| Rush et al.31 | 721 (721) | Observational | South Africa and New Zealand | 18–60 years | To investigate the relationship between BMI and %BF among 5 ethnic groups | BMI, %BF , WC (South African black vs South African European) |
| Schutte et al.37 | 98 (98) | Case–control | South Africa | Urban adults ≥ 18 years | Determine the relationship between HBP and leptin levels in African women | BMI, weight, leptin level (normotensive vs hypertensive African women) |
| Schutte et al.35 | 217 (217) | Case–case control | South Africa | Urban adults 20–50 years | Relationship between inflammation, obesity and cardiovascular disease. | Cardiovascular and inflammatory bio-markers (SBP, DBP, CO, TRP, leptin, HsCRP and fibrinogen (Africans vs Caucasians) |
| Schutte et al.32 | 217 (217) | Cross sectional | South Africa | Urban adults 20–55 years | To determine the relationship between BMI, HBP and cardiovascular and inflammatory biomarkers | BMI, DBP, SBP, leptin, CRP and hypertension % (Africans vs Caucasians) |
ND, not defined; hsCRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; %BF, percentage body fat; WC, waist circumference; BMI, body mass index; SBP, systolic blood pressure; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; HBP, high blood pressure; CO, cardiac output; TPR, total peripheral resistance.