Zimbabwe faces double challenge of malnutrition as obesity increases among teenagers

20 Jul 2023 --- Even though hunger and undernourishment dominate the African continent, many countries face a malnutrition paradox – excessive consumption of calories but a deficiency in nutrients. In countries where processed and energy-dense foods are being more widely consumed, such as Zimbabwe, obesity is increasing at an “alarming rate.”

Published in Nutrients, a study found that 15.8% of the adolescents participating were obese or overweight, coupled with low obese awareness, as 27.1% of those did not know they were obese. 

Unawareness of being obese and being obese was especially high among girls.

“The findings highlight the need to close the gap in obesity awareness among adolescents in Zimbabwe,” says Ashleigh Pencil, lead author of the study and Ph.D. student at the Faculty of Human Life Science at Osaka City University, Japan.

“We hope to develop obesity prevention and nutrition education intervention programs that engage the household heads and children to educate them about diet-related diseases,” she adds.

In Zimbabwe, being skinny is associated with ill health as perceived as living in poverty or being HIV infected.Socio-cultural beliefs
The study included 423 adolescents that go to high school in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, aged between 14 and 19.

The researchers argue that obesity is multifactorial and points to socio-cultural reasons, as in many African countries, including Zimbabwe, being skinny is associated with ill health as perceived as living in poverty or being HIV infected. On the contrary, being overweight is a sign of good health. 

Mothers and mothers-to-be are encouraged to eat more for the well-being of their infant, which can result in excessive weight gain. 

Another main factor driving obesity in the age group is a lack of education among parents, the researchers stress.

“Mothers and guardians often fail to recognize unhealthy weight among children and adolescents. Therefore, it is important to design obesity awareness programs for adolescents, especially girls, before they become mothers,” the study reads.

Also called the double burden of malnutrition, the malnutrition paradox is when under and over-nourishment co-exist in a society, and was recently stressed as a growing global challenge, although expected to decline as low and middle-income countries’ gross domestic product per capita increases.

The researchers of the economic study suggest increasing the amount of women in the workforce, adult literacy rates and the percentage of agriculture in national GDPs. Similar to the suggestions of the new study, also stressing the need for women to enter the workforce.

Obesity unawarenessThe authors stress the need for increased obesity awareness and nutrition education.
A recent study investigated obesity awareness among adolescents and found that overweight teenagers in Europe and North America increasingly underestimate their body weight, sparking worries among researchers as it adds to the existing public health crisis of obesity, diabetes and overweight. 

The authors stress the need for nutrition education to address the issue of teenagers’ eating habits and increase awareness of the condition.

“While taking cognizance of the different education levels of household heads by using mass media programs to raise more awareness of the causes, consequences and preventive measures, while hammering misconceptions to combat the growing level of obesity,” the study reads.

Mainstream media was recently accused of under-reporting ten humanitarian crises experiencing food scarcity in 2022, and one country that “didn’t make the headlines,” was Zimbabwe.

“The UN warned of a historic hunger crisis in Africa. We see the scale of it every day in our work. Parents skip meals so their children don’t go hungry. Fields dry up, and livestock dies. Families must flee because they can’t find food or water,” Claudine Awute, VP of international programs at CARE, previously said.

Earlier this week, Nutrition Insight spoke with experts in the industry about ways to tackle malnutrition, and commonly suggested solutions were food fortification, high protein solutions and nutraceuticals.

By Beatrice Wihlander