Shocking revelations show that out of the nearly one billion people who are overweight globally, nearly 700 million suffer from obesity.
Experts attending a medical symposium organised by Mt Kenya University in Nairobi on Saturday said obesity was a ticking time bomb that should be dealt with urgently. The event brought together medical practitioners from India, Uganda and Kenya to discuss cutting-edge management of lifestyle diseases.
Roslyne Ngugi, consultant physician and head of the department of International Medicine at MKU, said 650 million people suffer from obesity.
Ngugi who is also secretary of the Kenya Physicians Association and secretary of the Kenya Diabetes Study Group said drastic and concerted efforts by all stakeholders are needed to contain the pandemic.
“Obesity is clearly a big problem. What obesity does is to predispose one to other diseases like, cancer, stroke and heart attack,” she said.
The symposium called for awareness of lifestyle diseases and how to manage them. Ngugi said people should be sensitised to screen at least once a year. She also called for a focus on healthy diets and adequate exercise.
She said the American Diabetic Association advocates 30 minutes of exercise five days a week.
Ngugi said child obesity in the country stands at 21 per cent up from four per cent only five years ago. She told those with obesity to go to hospital so they can be guided on how to reverse their condition.
"We want to educate mwananchi, students and teachers by sending the message to adopt a healthy diet and exercise," the doctor said.
MKU co-founder Jane Nyutu who is also a member of the board of directors of the university said MKU was committed to supplementing the Jubilee administration in the realization of universal health care.
"We need to have a healthy and productive population," she said.
