Tackling Obesity in Africa

Ring the alarm: Obesity is coming to Africa!

 For decades this continent has grappled with hunger and starvation which has claimed the lives of millions of people. You only have to google ‘Ethiopia hunger’ and you will be bombarded with shocking images from the 1980’s famine which inspired the song “We are the world”.

Today Africa has to fight off another monster; obesity. It is already a big problem in developed economies like the US and Europe with statistics showing nearly two thirds of their population is either overweight or obese.

Scientists now say that the number of obese people in the developing world -Africa included-has quadrupled to ONE BILLION.

Research shows that in South Africa, Africa’s second largest economy, about 61% of adults are obese. This presents new challenges for governments to deal with considering that obesity creates room for many diseases ranging from diabetes to heart ailments.

It is obvious that ‘blaming the victim’ won’t solve the problem. It did not work in the campaign to reduce smoking and it hasn’t worked in the anti-obesity campaign in the US and Europe.  Africa needs to learn from the world and start putting in place measures that ensure we have an environment that enables people to live healthy lifestyles. And we need to deal with this before it gets any worse.

This blog will not ‘attack’ or insult those who are overweight, instead we will cheer them on to adopt healthy lifestyles. At the end of the day what is most important is not fitting into some bikini, but being healthy at whatever weight. 

So No, I won’t recommend some stupid cabbage diet or one of those maple syrup diets celebrities gush about.

I hope to inspire my readers to do little things, like eating more vegetables and fruits, which will make them healthier.

 Now let’s get this healthy journey started!