Supplementary files for article Assessing community readiness for overweight and obesity prevention among Ghanaian immigrants living in Greater Manchester, England

Aim: This study assesses community readiness to prevent overweight/obesity among Ghanaian immigrants in Greater Manchester, England.

Subject and method: The Community Readiness Model (CRM) was applied using a semi-structured interview tool with 13 key informants (religious and other key community members) addressing five readiness dimensions. A maximum of 9 points per dimension (from 1 = no awareness to 9 = high level of community ownership), was assigned, alongside qualitative textual thematic analysis.

Results: The mean readiness score indicated that the study population was in the “vague awareness stage” (3.08 ± 0.98). The highest score was observed for community knowledge of the issue (4.42 ± 0.99) which was in the pre-planning phase, followed by community climate (vague awareness; 3.58 ± 0.62). The lowest scores were seen for resources (denial/resistance; 2.70 ± 0.61) and knowledge of efforts (no awareness; 1.53 ± 0.44). Findings identified structural barriers, including poor living conditions as a result of poorly paid menial jobs and high workload, contributing to the adoption of unhealthy lifestyle behaviours. Socio-cultural factors such as fatalism, hereditary factors, and social status were associated with acceptance of overweight.

Conclusion: Despite recognising overweight/obesity as an important health issue in these communities, especially among women, it is not seen as a priority for targeting change. To help these communities to become more ready for interventions that tackle overweight/obesity, the focus should initially be to address the structural barriers identified, including reducing poverty, alongside designing interventions that work with these structural barriers, and thereafter focus on the socio-cultural factors.

This dataset contains includes measurements of trees and lianas stem diameters and status (e.g. alive, dead), and lightning strike data for forest areas within the Ankasa Conservation Area, collected between June 2018 and July 2021. We investigated tree mortality drive by lightning strikes in a 50-ha (1000 m x 500 m) plot area in the Ankasa Conservation Area, located in southwestern Ghana. The 50-ha was divided into 50 x 1-ha forest plots. In every census, we measured and tagged all trees and lianas that have a stem diameter at 1.3 m (or above buttresses) of ≥25 cm and notes were taken about the tree's living status (e.g., broken, hollow) or the trees death mode (e.g., uprooted, standing). Lightning strike data was collected from a subsample of the individual trees recorded in the census data. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/615481ab-e97d-4c73-9973-4fb80e5fb003

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner. To describe the male students in Accra secondary schools as an aid to the practising teacher and as the basis of dialogue between the teacher and the academic sociologist. Main Topics: Attitudinal/Behavioural Questions Male fifth-formers from schools representing four strata - elite, high, low and private - were chosen for survey which focusses on both attitudes towards education and on results obtained. Information is collected on whether respondent is day or boarding student, how long a boarder at this and earlier schools, payment of fees (who pays and whether any difficulty experienced in making payments), which schools attended in past, and reasons for choice of present secondary school (by selection of one from list of nine, including proximity, finances, religion, ease of entry, teaching staff or school's reputation). Assessed parental and respondent attitude to education generally, and to secondary education are given. Major substantive portion of survey concerns respondent attitudes to his future: ideal choice of occupation with reasons; whether it is financially and scholastically possible for him to continue to sixth-form; his view on advantages and disadvantages of sixth-form education. Preferred subjects, job expected if education continued, job expected if education not continued, and ideal school for sixth-form education. In a follow-up questionnaire sent out one year later, examination results (independently verified) were ascertained and the educational and occupational activity of respondent since sitting for examination is outlined. Jobs held since leaving school, salary received, length of time spent looking for a job, source of finance while looking and where presently living are all listed. Background Variables Tribe, language spoken at home, birthplace by region and size, major place of residence during first 12 years of life, number of years resident with mother and/or father, mother's and father's occupations, number of siblings by same mother and father and their relative ages, siblings' occupations, parental and sibling educational level and respondent age of entry to primary and secondary schools. Both school attended and father's occupation are rated (occupation according to type, sector and professional status level).

This qualitative dataset includes transcripts from interviews with key informants (KII) and focus group discussions (FGDs). Key informants were purposively selected based on their roles as community representatives (such as chiefs or traditional authorities) or professionals involved in flood-related institutions (e.g., health sector, local government, or disaster relief organizations). This provided a broad range of perspectives. FGDs were conducted with residents of eight flood-affected communities, aged 18 and older, who had lived in the area for at least ten years and had direct experience with floods. The study aims to understand the impacts of dam release flooding as reported by downstream communities, assess how flooding affects their lived experiences and life course, and identify adaptive behaviors and gender-related issues in response to flooding. It also explores community responses to flood sensitization efforts and the broader effects of flooding. While the study used a sequential exploratory mixed-methods approach, this dataset reports only on the qualitative data collected through a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, including Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and FGDs. The qualitative sample included 43 participants: 33 FGDs (17 male, 16 female) and 10 KIIs (8 male, 2 female). Discussions covered topics such as the impact of flooding on livelihoods, life course transitions, social and health issues, economic effects, short- and long-term impacts, and gender adaptation roles.