OBESITY EPIDEMIC; A call to action in Nigeria

Nigerians have moved from one extreme of the malnutrition spectrum to another. Time was when majority of Nigerians used to be undernourished with infants and under five children being the worst hit. But with changing trend in lifestyles, we have started witnessing an epidemic of obesity. A study carried out by chukwuonye I.I, et.al, in Nigeria (2013) lay credence to this fact. In that study the prevalence of overweight individuals ranged from 20.3% to 35.1%, while the prevalence of obesity ranged from 8.1% to 22.2% and other researchers in 2014 C. I. Okafor et.al revealed that 31% are overweight and 17% are obese in urban region while S. N. Akorolo-Anthony revealed that prevalence of obesity among urbanized adult Nigerians by gender for overweight men is 42% and women is 32% and for the obese men is 15% and women is 42%. Their conclusion was that the prevalence of overweight and obese individuals in Nigeria is of epidemic proportion in the urban areas. This has also come with its downside of increasing  incidence of diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart attacks, sudden death and other cardiovascular diseases among the most productive persons in the society.
Overweight and obesity are known risk factors for diabetes and heart diseases and certain cancers. This trend is not likely to abate until we make changes to the way we live our lives, the foods we eat and the state of our physical health.
A recent study in the U.S. by Randy Dotinga an HealthDay Reporter revealed that while Americans are getting fatter, their average height remained the same, children are not immune to this trend. This is significant because any weight gain significantly increases the body mass index(BMI). The BMI is a rougher estimate of a person’s body fat using height and weight measurements. The BMI classifies people into different categories such as normal, overweight and obese. The BMI is a good indicator of overall risk for variety of diseases including heart diseases and diabetes.

Although there are many ways to fight obesity which includes: medications, surgery, dieting and physical exercises, there are generally no easy way or foolproof method to manage it. It has been shown that this short term measures do not work as any lost weight usually rebounds after a few years. We have to recognise obesity for what it is, a chronic disease that requires a concerted effort and more sustainable ways for it’s management. It’s management should therefore be a lifelong commitment to proper dietary habits, increasing physical activity, regular exercises and healthy living. The goal of management should not be to achieve an ideal body weight but rather to achieve and maintain a healthier weight. Any modest weight loss has been shown to be beneficial.