Africa faces growing obesity problem
December 01, 2006
More than one-third of African women and
a quarter of African men are estimated to be overweight, and
the World Health Orgnisation predicts that will rise to 41
percent and 30 percent respectively in the next 10 years.
Although the figures are lower than in affluent
countries, many experts fear that health systems already stretched
by the AIDS virus, malaria and poverty-related diseases may
snap under the additional burden of heart disease, strokes,
cancer and diabetes, conditions linked to obesity
The problem is most pronounced in South Africa,
where death rates from obesity and diabetes
are on the rise
Some 56 percent of South African women are
now either obese or overweight, compared to fewer than 10
percent who are underweight. More than 17 percent of adolescents
here are overweight - for teenage girls, it's 25 percent,
according to the Medical Research Council
The traditional diet is heavy in starch,
with foods like maize meal and white bread being staples.
Three spoons of sugar in coffee and tea are the norm. And,
as elsewhere in the world, high-fat, high-sugar fast foods,
snacks and fizzy drinks are in.
South Africa is not alone. In Cameroon, where
the diet is rich in palm oil, cornflower products and red
meat, 35 percent of the population is overweight or obese.
Similar rates are found in Gambia and Nigeria, particularly
among women, according to figures presented at a recent conference
organized by the Oxford Health Alliance of health professionals
and academics.
"It's not true that only the rich have problems
with obesity
and overweight," says , director of Cameroon's National Obesity
Center
Source from:
http://news.yahoo.com
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