ALIVE AND WELL

Nineteen years ago the world was shocked by the horrifying scenes of masses of children, women and men starving in Ethiopia, during a severe famine. At that time, famine and government preoccupation with military hardware, threatened the lives of about 3 million people. This year the nightmare is being relived all over again, 13 million Ethiopians are faced with starvation, following three years of poor rainfall, and a government whose priority was military hardware, for the war against Eritrea, rather than food security.

The word malnutrition seems synonymous with Africa, hence our preoccupation with food security and development of sustainable agricultural policies. This is indeed legitimate in the face of what appears to be perennial food shortages in our continent year in year out. This column however, is dedicated to reminding us that even in the midst of nutritional want, there do exist pockets of nutritional excesses among particular groups, which need to be addressed sooner rather than later.

I am currently looking at what looks like an overweight and obesity public health epidemic in the making. The data is from a survey that was conducted on 288 undergraduate students to collect health risk data. The Body Mass Index (BMI) of 57 of the students or 19.8% (both male and female) was greater than 24.9 kg/m2 indicating that they were at least overweight if not obese, a desirable BMI is one in the range of 20-24.9 kg/m2 [1]. The BMI is not only a convenient measure of adiposity in an individual, but is related to health outcomes. A BMI greater than 24.9 kg/m2 is associated with an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease.

Easy access to fat rich fast foods, an abundance of refined carbohydrates and sedentary lifestyles are the hallmark of urban Kenya. Studies indicate that diet and nutrition often play a crucial role in the development and progression of chronic diseases. Atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease (CHD), hypertension in sodium sensitive individuals, cancer (30-50%), obesity, diabetes and osteoporosis are all associated with faulty nutrition. The impact of this lifestyle on our health, overburdened health system, personal savings and national economy will be devastating, if similar trends in the west are anything to go by.

Chronic diseases currently account for 70% of all deaths in the United States. The medical care costs of people with chronic diseases account for more than 60% of the nation's medical care costs. Can we afford this? We certainly cannot, even if we were to assume that HIV/AIDS was non existent. We need to look at the growing trend in overweight and obesity in our population against the American experience. To drive home the reality of what will ultimately happen to us, unless we begin to take action to avert a similar outcome. In the last 10 years in the United States, obesity rates have increased by more than 60% among adults. Obesity rates among children have doubled, while that among adolescents has tripled since 1980 [2].

We certainly must wake up to the sobering reality of the impact our lifestyle choices have on our health as individuals, this column will seek not only to provoke you into taking charge of you personal nutrition and becoming physically active, but will provide you with a few tips on how to do this.

REFERENCES

1. American College of Sports Medicine. Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Exercise Prescription, Fifth Edition. Philadelphia: Williams & Wilkins, 1995

2. National Institutes of Health. Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults. Bethesda, Maryland: Department of Health and Human Services; National Institutes of Health; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 1998.

Gitahi Theuri M.S.
Clinical Exercise Physiologist/Wellness Consultant
Email: gitahi_t@yahoo.com