Most people misuse the word obesity for overweight referring to overweight people as obese. As much as inaction towards overweight can result to obesity, there are major differences between the two. Overweight is defined by the measure of our body mass index (BMI) whereby the BMI is between 25kg/m2 -30kg/m2 (kg equals our body weight in kilograms and m equals our height in meters) Obese individuals require more intensive care compared to just being overweight and may require anti-obesity drugs and bilateral surgeries, procedures not normally prescribed to overweight people.
Overweight and obesity can be influenced largely by our cultures for example, 64% of the adult population of the United States are either obese of overweight. Fast foods are practices rooted into American history which has been handed down for generations and this leads to overweight. Today we shall examine a weired practices and believes and cultures from a Cameroonian society that predisposes them to overweight and obesity.
Cameroon is strategic country in Central and West African with a population of over 18million inhabitants. It is termed Africa in miniature for its great geographical and cultural diversity. It exhibits all major climates and vegetation of the continent: coast, desert, mountains, rain forest, and savanna and controls the greatest economy within the central African states. It is a fertile and reach piece of land producing tones of various cash crops most of which are exported.
Surprisingly, more than 35% of the adult population of Cameroonians are obese and situation keeps going out of control because the following reason.
Being overweight or fat in Cameroon has been classified as a sign of wealth. For the men for example, they take it as an additional advantage to lure beautiful girls into their nets who due to poverty and hardship are looking for means to survive. The young men on the other hand find fat women as hot and very efficient to quench their sexual desires. The men want something with" meat", something you can touch and fill it soft rather than a bonny and skinny lady very hard to feel (as they say). Nobody will therefore want to lose the respect from the society as being reach or the attention from the opposite sex by being skinny. This believes pushes the society to indulge in unhealthy eating habits with the prime intention of getting fat.
People give up their efforts to lose weight because they believe nothing can be done to remedy the situation. This is common in families who have had one or two individuals suffer from this condition before. The rest of the family makes little or no efforts to fight overweight because they believe it is a family sickness. Even if efforts are made, these efforts are not enough because of the preconception.
More than 5% of the Cameroonian population suffers from complications due to the HIV virus. With the coming of HIV/AIDS, and the name slim disease attributed to it, people believe that being slim was a sign of being HIV positive. Together with the stigma still attached to this syndrome people will declare themselves negative in the eyes of the public by doing all it takes to be fat. You gain respect as a healthy person and are accepted in your social group or the opposite sex easily if you are fat. The opposite sex will rarely ask for the use of condoms before sex because he or she knows you are save as it is depicted in you seize. The thin people are more scrutinized and suspected as reservoirs of the HIV virus and if a clear prove of viral negativity is not shown you may never given a shot by the opposite sex.
My father (May his sole rest in peace) will crack my head when I ate little portions of food. According to him only the weak or women ate little potions of food. He will urge me to eat like a soldier and that was eating at the speed of light. Therefore in parties or ceremonies, my friends and I ate hugged quantities of food within a very short time to show our man hood. This was generally accepted in my locality and was considered cool in the eyes of the ladies we were trying to impress.
Food availability and the economic power of a household are also major factors that determine an individual's weight. My staple food in Mankon (situated in the northwest province of Cameroon) is called Achu and is prepared from Cocoyams. It is also consumed by the neighboring villages of Bafut, Nken, Bambilly, Nchomba, and Nsohngwa. Amongst other widely consumed food items are fufu (corn flower, or cassava flower). Cocoyams, corn and cassava are huge sources of starch containing between 20-25 grams of carbohydrates per cup of the power. They are locally cultivated and therefore easily acquired. The poor economic situation has resulted in people depended on what they can cultivate and therefore families may depend on this constant intake of huge carbohydrates all their lives with little or no vegetables. This contributes largely to the amounts of obese people in the streets.
The economic power of a country and educational facilities also influence peoples ability to practice healthy habits. A substantial portion of people living outside the major cities of Cameroon lack television, radio, telephone, and Internet service facilities that can self educate them on healthy living.
There are several diiferent ways to prevent and control overweight ranging from a healthy diet intake to excercises and medications
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