Young working men are not eating well.
The Ministry of Health says it has noticed an increase in the number of men who are married and those who are bachelors being undernourished, despite them being employed.
These men are not starved but chose to eat one meal a day.
This is the opposite when compared to young working women who are classified as obese.
Head of the Nutrition and dietetics unit at the Ministry of health noted that they are compiling the data and will soon make them public.
"Some of the reasons cited as to why women are obese have been closely linked to the use of different family planning methods," Mugambi said yesterday.
She added; "I may not say that women are starving their husbands, but these are habits that men form that make them become undernourished. For women, they are the ones who cook. When they cook, they eat the food. This might also be why we are seeing more obese women men."
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Women are not starving their husbands, it is their habits that keep them undernourished, which is the outcome of insufficient food intake for good health.
Mugambi said women’s cases are different because they choose to cook - and eat the food.
“This might be why we are seeing more obese women.” She called for more research to establish the exact reasons for under-nourished men and obese women.
A study released by the World Health Organization last year showed Kenyan women are the ninth most overweight in Africa, which is attributed to poor nutrition.
Other counties that have a high number of overweight women are Mombasa, Nyeri, Kiambu and Murang’a.
Mugambi said, “It could be the food environment. There are many fast food joints, which contribute. Use of sugars and fats is another factor.”
Obesity and being overweight exposes one to diseases like hypertension and diabetes, which are expensive for the county and the patient to treat.
Data from a government survey in 2015 showed 17.5 per cent of men and 38.4 per cent of women are either overweight or obese.
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