Western lifestyles fuel growing obesity epidemic in Nigeria

Obesity is spreading in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new study that blames westernised lifestyles and warns of health problems to come

A woman carries fruit to sell in the market on World Food Day in Lagos, Nigeria.

The whole world is getting fatter. It's very clear in Latin America, where Mexico now has higher rates of obesity than the United States and is mounting a fightback through soda and junk food taxes, as I described in my book. There are major concerns, too, in Asia, where China has the second largest population of obese people after the USA. After those two come India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, Germany, Pakistan, and Indonesia, according to the Global Burden of Disease study from the University of Washington, published in the Lancet. Some 30% of the world's population is now overweight or obese, raising their risk of health problems.


But what of Africa, where we see pictures too often of emaciated, malnourished, children and their parents and grandparents?
According to a new study published by the open access journal PLOS One, obesity is rising rapidly in parts of sub-Saharan Africa. The study looks at Nigeria and finds that western influences on diet and lifestyle are playing a part in what looks set to be a serious epidemic that is going to create all the health issues the west is already struggling with. Needless to say, the health systems of sub-Saharan Africa are going to be a lot less able to cope.

The study from researchers at Warwick medical school found that more than one in five women in Nigeria is overweight or obese - among men the rates are much lower, which the authors think may be down to the amount of physical work men still do.
Weight goes with wealth in Nigeria today. The richest women are three and a half times more likely to be overweight or obese than those in the lowest income bracket. That is not so surprising. But education and social status also increase women's chances of putting on more weight than is good for their health. In Nigeria, there is a cultural element to this - richer and more successful women are expected to be fatter. But part of this is the pursuit of a lifestyle that is presumed to be enviable because it is that of people in the affluent nations of the world like the US and the UK. They emulate our success and are landed with our problems.

Dr Ngianga-Bakwin Kandala at Warwick puts it like this:

Obesity is now not just a western problem, but an African one as well. By becoming wealthier, better educated and urbanised regions of Nigeria are gaining the attributes we would more commonly associate with western societies. This has brought both a change in lifestyle and diet that is reflected in finding that educated, wealthy women are much more likely to be obese than those living in more rural, traditional areas.

And this is his colleague, Professor Saverio Stranges:

Urbanisation, and the shift towards what we would consider to be more western habits, appears to come hand in hand with a more sedentary lifestyle and change in diet. More people have cars and drive where they might have walked in the past. The rise in internet usage within the cities sees more people sat down for prolonged periods, both at home and at work.

This physical inactivity is worsened by a less balanced diet. An over reliance on energy dense processed foods can be highlighted by the growing presence of fast food outlets and the knock on effect is reducing the intake of staple, low calorie foods.

Under-nourishment now exists cheek by jowl with overweight. There is a big contrast between urban areas like Lagos and rural areas where people labour to feed their families from their own patch of earth. Prof Stranges puts this double trouble very well:

The worry is that Nigeria, like many Sub-Saharan African countries, is facing a major public health challenge with a rising number of overweight adults, whilst large segments of the population face problems associated with under nutrition. This dual burden will mean combating both malnutrition and the risks associated with obesity, such as cardiovascular disease.

Source-The Guardian