Africa's Growing Obesity Problem

When most of us think about the greatest health problems in Africa, malaria, HIV and hunger are likely to come to mind. But a recent study shows there are rising levels of obesity in Africa, and it is quickly becoming just as big of a health issue as it is here in America.

After studying seven African countries, scientists have reported that the incidence of being overweight or obese has increased 35 percent since the early 1990s. The suspected cause? Greater access to cheap, high-fat, sugar-laden foods in urban areas in sub-Saharan Africa, leaving many vulnerable to joining the ranks of the worldwide obesity epidemic.

Even though the increase in obesity was greater among poor people, the number of wealthy people who are overweight is higher. In fact, being fat is considered a sign of health, power and prosperity in many areas. And because HIV is so closely associated with thinness in Africa, being overweight is also viewed as a sign a person doesn't have the disease.

In South Africa, for instance, 64 percent of the black population and 50 percent of the white population are overweight or obese, according to a study by the International Association for the Study of Obesity. What's more, 75 percent of black females are overweight, largely due to the fact that they are not encouraged to play sports and instead, encouraged to "fatten up" before marriage as a symbol of beauty in certain Nigerian tribes.

Although obesity rates are rising dramatically, malnutrition continues to be a major problem. "This region may have started to experience what's called a 'double burden' ... with malnutrition on the one hand and a growing prevalence of obesity on the other," Eduardo Villamor, assistant professor of international nutrition at Harvard, explained to Newsweek.

In addition, rising obesity rates will most likely bring a rise in diabetes, heart disease and cancer. According to the World Health Organization, being overweight is now a bigger problem -- and a greater cause of death -- than being underweight.

Abdhalah Ziraba, who worked on the research with the African Population and Health Research Center in Nairobi, told Reuters Health, "Given the chronic nature of most diseases associated with obesity and by extension the huge cost of treatment, the prospects look grim for the already under-funded and ill-equipped African health care systems unless urgent action is taken."

Read more about the obesity problems in other countries.