The world is getting fatter, and Kenyans have not been left behind, the World Health Organization says.
New report released last week shows that, in 2022, more than one billion people in the world are now obese.
The study also shows that even though the rates of undernutrition have dropped, it is still a public health challenge in many places, particularly in South-East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
The Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022 showed 45 per cent of women aged 20-49 years are currently obese or overweight, up from 38 per cent in 2014.
The data shows that only 19 per cent of men of the same age are obese or overweight.
According to the WHO report, published in the Lancet, worldwide, 43 per cent of adults were overweight in 2022.
Globally obesity among adults has more than doubled since 1990, and has risen four times among children and adolescents (five to 19 years of age).
Countries with the highest combined rates of underweight and obesity in 2022 were island nations in the Pacific and the Caribbean and those in the Middle East and North Africa.
Malnutrition, in all its forms, includes undernutrition (wasting, stunting, underweight), inadequate vitamins or minerals, overweight and obesity.
Undernutrition is responsible for half of the deaths of children under five and obesity can cause noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancers.
WHO contributed to the data collection and analysis of this study, titled 'The data shows that only 19 per cent of men of the same age are obese or overweight.'
“This new study highlights the importance of preventing and managing obesity from early life to adulthood, through diet, physical activity, and adequate care, as needed,” Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said.
“Getting back on track to meet the global targets for curbing obesity will take the work of governments and communities, supported by evidence-based policies from WHO and national public health agencies. Importantly, it requires the cooperation of the private sector, which must be accountable for the health impacts of their products."
Obesity is a complex chronic disease. The causes are well understood, as are the interventions needed to contain the crisis, which are backed by strong evidence. However, they are not implemented.
At the World Health Assembly in 2022 member states adopted the WHO Acceleration plan to stop obesity, which supports country-level action through 2030. To date, 31 governments, including Kenya, are now leading the way to curb the obesity epidemic by implementing the plan.
The core interventions include actions to support healthy practices from day 1, including breastfeeding promotion, protection and support.
They also include public education and awareness campaigns for healthy diets and exercise; standards for physical activity in schools; and integration of obesity prevention and management services into primary healthcare.
"There are significant challenges in implementing policies aimed at ensuring affordable access to healthy diets for all and creating environments that promote physical activity and overall healthy lifestyles for everyone," Dr Francesco Branca, director of WHO’s nutrition and food safety department and one of the co-authors of the study, said.
"Countries should also ensure that health systems integrate the prevention and management of obesity into the basic package of services."
In Kenya, the 2022 KDHS showed the country is doing well to protect the health of children in their young age.
They start off well during their tender ages but enter the overweight and obese bracket once they reach teenagerhood.
The 2022 report shows that the number of overweight children aged below five years has dropped drastically over the past three decades from a high of six per cent in 1993 to three per cent in 2022.
This points to mothers having adopted good nutritional services to their children over the years to ensure they fall within the right weight bands.
However, the statistics take an opposite trajectory once the children attain teenage.
According to the 2022 KDHS survey on the nutritional status of women, at least 11 per cent of girls and young women aged between 15 and 19 years were overweight while two per cent were obese.
The number, however, more than doubled when they entered the 20-49 age bracket.
The survey indicates that 28 per cent of women in that age bracket were overweight while 17 per cent were obese.
"When you look at the women 20-49, 45 per cent are either overweight or obese," acting Director of Public Health Dr Patrick Amoth said.
"The moment they flip over 20 years of age, the figure more than doubles. So we need to be able to work with our teenagers to inculcate good nutritional habits, good physical exercise habits so that we can avoid the burden of obesity and overweight."
Overweight and obese are risk factors for noncommunicable diseases such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke and coronary heart disease.
Whereas genetics play a role in one being obese, researchers blame poor lifestyle choices people make for themselves and their young children.
The Kenya Health Policy 2014-30, policy objective number 2 seeks to cut the burden of noncommunicable diseases, which Amoth said are occurring much earlier amongst Kenyans.
"They require longer periods of treatment, they require more time of the healthcare workers so if we can make investments in this pace in terms of prevention then we can create sustainability of our healthcare financing to be able to provide the entire spectrum of services," the DG added.