Basking in the euphoria of winning the battle over a long history of being overweight, Mr. Afolabi, CEO of a vast business wasn’t prepared for the shocker he got from a family friend who had fixed an appointment to discuss a “pressing issue of growing concern” among his circle of friends. “Hello Mr. Afolabi, the grapevine has it that your large business empire crumbling and you’re hiding it from your friends. But your increasing weight loss has exposed the problem and we are here to help!”
You may think you know what obesity means, but, can you calculate it? The simple calculation is:
Based on these figures, anyone with a BMI of 30 or higher is obese. According to the World Health Organization, global obesity figures have nearly tripled during the last half century with about 700 million obese and 2 billion overweight adults! You will think they left children out, but you'll be terribly wrong because close to 350 million children aged 5 to 19 years were obese as of 5 years ago!
You might choose to overlook figures based on world data on obesity and being overweight. Many of the 54 countries in sub-Saharan Africa are not within the danger zone of obesity. In fact, many have reported figures of less than 5% prevalence of obesity. But, this is the danger of wrong interpretation of statistics. Those figures are not static; take a look at the trends.
Yes, the research trends support our concern about an increasing-obese sub-Saharan Africa. Researchers recently reported a disturbing trend of increasing prevalence of obesity and being overweight among the world’s poorest countries. Even more disturbing is the fact that the figures seem to have stabilized among opulent countries once fingered for obesity while sub-Saharan figures hit the roof! Are scientists surprised? With our changing lifestyles and adoption of the western diet; feigning surprise would be hypocritical!
But how much of a problem is obesity in sub-Saharan Africa? What does the research say? Between 1992 and 2007, obesity prevalence figures doubled in West Africa and consistently increased among men and women. The trend is not better in many sub-Saharan African countries. A Nigerian systematic review and meta-analysis on the burden of obesity in Nigeria concluded that one in four Nigerians is overweight, while 14% are obese.
One disturbing trend is the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity in the sub-Saharan Africa. We should care about the future of our teeming populations. Beyond diet and lifestyle changes is the Cultural twist driving the prevalence of obesity and being overweight in sub-Saharan Africa.
Take-home message: Many Africans (now backed by research) that it is fashionable and respectable to be big. We pride ourselves on our large body weight and flaunt it as evidence of good living. This needs to change. Tackling obesity and being overweight in Africa will therefore need a multi-pronged approach to be effective.
