(title revised)
When FTJ introduced a liberalized economy in Zambia little did we know the impact it would have on our waist lines. I returned to Zambia after two years in Australia and the first thing I noticed as I walked down Cairo road one morning was how fat people had become in a very short time frame.
There was a guy I was with at secondary school more than a decade ago, who used to go by the name Muselepete. He was so thin we thought he should be studied in a lab because not even malnutrition could make someone that skinny ! We always teased him how that his ribs would make the same sound as a guitar string if he ran his fingers down his chest. Well, after not seeing this friend for only two years, I found him almost obese! He had probably moved from a size 26 to 42. I hardly recognized him when he called out to me. He had the signature pot belly, I could not make out whether he had a neck or not but the few anatomy courses I did at Unza assured me he must still have one neatly tucked between his now chubby chin and broad chest.
This phenomenon I found was repeated on a majority of my peers.
The mushrooming of fast food take-aways in Lusaka has really gotten people fat. They joke that “balelila” but should we really embrace the western lifestyle with caution thrown to the wind?
People in the west are now realizing how bad and unhealthy their lifestyles are. Its the cause of diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attacks and some cancers.
I would urge middle class Zambians to stick to the natural foods our grandparents and parents raised us on. Once in a while leave your second hand japanese car and walk. Go to the gymn or just exercise for at least 20 minutes three times a week.
me first
What a timely message!
Go to rural areas if you will find the same situation. A healthy lifestyle is okey, but if you grew up deprived, you would want to taste all kinds of foods you could not get when growing up. I don’t think it is only fast foods/liberalisation making people fat. It also has to do with eating more than necessary.
Is that kapenta and nshima or inswa? How I miss these natural delicacies!
Yummy! Yummmmmmy!that Inswa looks so apetising.Wish i was home
Obesity in Zambia has very little to do with the fast foods people eat. Not everyone who is obesse can actually afford to eat from these places. Dont be misinformed…..all educated people know that the excess consumption of carbohydrates is the major cause of obesity in developing countries……for Zambia is all about the nshima we consume and not the chips we eat occasionally!!
This heading is wrong and misleading. It has no substance and does not constitute being considered news worth. The contrast between the heading and the content is glaring. I wonder who authorises what should b posted on this blog. Get better stories Lt. jACK UP your standards.
Its better to die fat than a skeleton.
#6 – Why do you always look for the bad in Zambians? It is clear people are fat due to junk food. Obesity was never there in the olden days. We used to eat more nshima than anything else then.
Our normal diet is good, actually. Very good. But if u introduce chicken that grow in 5 weeks plus other things we have taken up to be normal: imichopo, T-bone, sausages etc. Stuff we used to eat occassionally, you bring in such fatness.
Yes, people are doing better than they used to. It’s a reality.
People do afford the junk food, a lot of them do. Those that don’t are not as fat as described above.
#6
You are right. Its not the junk food thats making Zambians fat. There are a variety of reasons behind people gaining weight in Zambia. One such reason is aging. Us some people move into their thirties, they tend to gain weight. For the author to give just one example and generalise it to the entire population is unacceptable and very unscientific indeed. Not many people actually afford junk food. The liberalisation of the economy came with it extreme poverty us opposed to improving people’s welfare.
The only solution is try and stay away from fast foods and follow our tradition diet. Meat & Chicken are the major causes of this obesity. If you eat chicken from kumuzi then fine otherwise just stay away or else you will reduce yr life span….
I miss Inswa too much….
Too much junk food is bad for anyone’s well being.
Ubwali ne nswa yaba yawama eyi, baletukumbwisha kanshi. This is real food, not processed ah ah, natural unprocessed food.
This was debated extensively first time LT posted it.LT have you run out of stories?
Thumbs up LT,we need such info not just politics.Forget about pipo who are over critical on everything,indeed,who are trying to be “jakos” of all trades.the auther of this article shud be appreciated.surely, what were previously considered disease conditions fo the west are now increasingly debilitating our third worlds.b4 we argue with the auther or LT 4 this article,critically le’s look at our lifestyles as the economy improves,alredy some think walking or riding a bike is a sign of poverty,or having a small wing of choicken is sign of inadequate money,but chicken “tanduli”,2 huge t-bones with a big plate full of fries,500ml coke Hmmmmm! u’re digging yo own grave.great great!! article,
Join de Rastaman Camp and put Dread inna di kitchen! Pure Ital food we nyam, like vegetable soup, beans, fish, herb salad, ackee, yam, banana…well finger lickin’ and healthy!
By all means avoid those factory grown chickens, they are responsible for the growing number of people with ‘chicken legs’.
Just joking.
Maveg and fruits are very good for health
Look at how healthy KK is!!!
Wrong heading though but food for thought
Fo yu acusing nshima as the leading cause of obesity,yu have fired a blanks.complex carbohydrates such as nshims need to form the bulky of yo meals,followed by veges and fruits,the least contributed by fatty foods.fast foods are very bad esp fo the middle aged and above who apparently are ones with relatively more cash to spend.these foods have too much oil and salt,and most recipies comprise highly refined ingrediates such as simple sugars;poly unsaturated oils,eggs,processed milk prods which are highly efficiently absorbed compared to our nshima,boiled casava,unrefined locally polished rice,pumpkins etc.therefore power to nshima and marathon chicken and fresh water luangua and zambezi fish
Long live nshima, beans and cabbage!!!
I eat nyama soya for breakfast. Keeps me stronge and fit.
I can’t see my comment and yet you detect a duplicate comment. What’s up LT?
A good example of a healthy eater in image is our honourable presido RB, check his very healthy face,learn from him and we will have no more health problems in our beloved country.
Its true that these western style fast foods are making us fat.Our natural foods, ifisashi,nshima,rice or potatoes are health foods when cooked in our traditional way.Chips and these chickens which are reared in two three weeks make people obese.The cooking styles in fast food reataurants is shoking if you dare to know
Is inswa a national traditional dish? To my best of knowledge, southerners dont take inswa not even finkubala or mbeba. A more accurate traditional dish would have been nshima with umulembwe. Why does LT want things the Bemba way?
#27 Nsima. Because the propritor of LT is Bemba
Back to Nturition Lessons. Yes the title is definitely inappropriate. Very few people afford those Junk foods when you do serious demorgrapgy in Zambia, i agree. What is to be over weight?? Weight depends to some extent your height – you can even check this on your phone depending on what phone you have. So let us be careful the way we generalize. Exercises yes! important not only for weight management but for health in general. Wah!!
Today I have difficulties with the internet hence my absence on these important issues, however, I am back I hope it won’t give up on the way…Let me read the article properly…for my unwavered contributions….
So I see, I don’t think one can outrightly blame it on the liberty of the economy, unless you are saying you were happy having to wait for Days for you to get to your Village and that it was all good to wait for services from one unreliable government owned company, of course that liberty has come with disadvantages like one you have sighted in your article…and yet personal decision has to be respected…in this case, choose what to eat and how you eat it…
Hey LT whats with your heading?! I think it a bit misleading…but the article is a worth a thought or two…
17. Anonymous,
I think what you have just there is a worth thinking about, although you have neutralized the effect in 18.
Lets not aslo forget that ARV’s make people appear fat.
I just came back from the gym. LPM death made me to serious with exercise.
I Tried all sorts of foods when I was a minister, but my weight is just the same. so I believe its not the junky foods that make people grow fat.
#34 Are you speaking from experience? Anyway, the story makes sense. Even here in Germany, I sometimes take nshima and caterpillars to work and enjoy it for lunch at the amazement of everyone. Aba lefwaya ukweshako, na tana!
It’s now years since I gave up eating in the cantine, and rushing to McDonalds and Burger King.
#37 Yeah I also went with somne cooked cassava and groundnets to work a few months ago. Great stuff.
Now, are people in Zambia getting richer for them to burst their waist on fast foods? Or are they simply changing diet?
Students at Uni, college and sec schools have little food so they can possibly put on weight. We used tom put on weight on holidays and certainly when we started work.
Prosperity comes with more disposable income. What matters next is what food you buy. Obesity is the biggest problem in prosperous country as junk food is easily available. Austrailia has had to build bigger ambulances and the some crematoriums in the UK can’t take in big coffins. Beware the diet.
Marriage also makes you put on weight. Just look around. Some single men can eat all the fast foods in Lusaka and never put on weight. I have seen it. But see them eat the lady’s food, nicely cooked Zambia food (not fast food) and the guy blows up like a baloon. If you have a peaceful and loving wife, you put on even more weight. The single can’t understand these things. It’s not all about fast/not fast foods. Ask the married.
Contrary to belief on this panel (Mundiya Sikatana) Junk food and obesity are most synonymus with low income and low education.
Look at minorities in America or England.
This is certainly the case in the western developed countries. Personally i would rather my children ate fresh vegetables, had a healthy low fat diet and lead an active lifestyle than for them to slouch in front of a TV or Video games.
Being Fat is not fashionable and it is definately very dangerous. Leeds to heart complications, diabetes etc
Let us be selective in what habits we pick up from the west. They have gone full circle and now they realise they got it wrong on everything from the environment,family valu
Continued:
family values and even (you better believe it!) even economics!
Bill clinton at the age of 60 is more fit than a majority of thirty somethings telling by how much he jogs every single morning.
The future prime minister in the Uk rides a bike to work, so does the mayor etc.
Fast foods are not good for health. I eat nshima every week. Timely message though the heading is poor
Traditional Zambian meal (healthy I wonder) urban middle class style lets see:-
Starter some fried or roasted groundnuts
Main course: nshima with beef stew with thick top soup with a side dish of some greens in groundnut soup(ifisashi). Large nshima at least three lumps with a chunk of meat with the fat still there. The meat being boiled first then fried before being served in thick sumptous gravy.
Sweet course:Boiled Maize Cobs i.e Corn on the cob dipped in butter.
Accompanied by either a glass of ice cold mosi or well fermented chibuku and milk. is this really healthy ?
#40 $#41,quite good observation tho it fits well in the west compared to our situ.what is junk food associated with low class in the state or britain? answers,fat meat and not lean red steak which very dear,hi-breed chicken,not marathon 1;Mc Donald fast foods equivalent to our very own Hungry lion,Steers,Chicken Inn..why? bcose its cheeper to eat there than to cook @ home which comes with a lot of hidden costs such as gas,c/oil ,name it.So, from our zed perspective,its simply bad eating habits coupled with inferiority complex where one feels impotant $ wealthy if one can eat half chicken,600mls coke,full plate of fries in full view of the less prevaledged,and poverty of knowledge generally.
otherwise you have well articulated yo arguments #40.bottom line is that fast foods are not health,and are best avoided as regular sources of meals.however,those in fast food industry need our support in a way so visit food palace and the like once in a while,do not make it a habit,and do not compete with anybody by eating as tho yu are dying the following day.eat responsibly,and be reminded that over eating is synonymous with glatony which is a sin, and poisonous to long term health…high BP,heart attacks,sugar disease,strokes,the list is endless.
The problem pa Zed is when you become thin ati balwele so we eat till you can eat no more
#43 that could be a healthy meal
roasted groundnuts- good source of protein and fat
Nshima- carbohydrate with low glycaemic index especially roller meal
meat- good source of protein.since zambians have meat once or twice a week thats ok
veges- rape, kalembula,chinese cabbage,chibwabwa- excellent source of minerals,vitamins, fibre
maize- fibre,complex carb
chibuku and mosi- unhealthy leads to marital issues, pot belly loss of finances
#46 – again when you become fat at bali pama ARVs. Takwaba ichusuma kubantu
hahahahahah! #47 yu’ve made my day,Hmmmmm! chibuku leading to marital issues which in turn being unhesalthy,hahahahahah!! chibuku shakers,mosi and amai tili kuseli(kachusu)=extramarital issues which are bad,but marital issues are not bad man.boss, it’s etra- marital and possibly pre-marital issues that are bad in the face of shakers and “ka mosi otunya”,but i get yo point.
Expanding wastelines among the zambian ‘middle class’ is due to an increase in sedentary lifestyles and increased disposable incomes. In the past people used to eat junk very sparringly because of limited incomes, and even then they ‘walked’ off the calories on the journey from “snack attack” to the bus stop. Now with in influx of reconditioned cars from Japan, the only walking people do is 2seconds from house to car and 1 mintue from car to office. WIth this kind of lifestyle even nshima with kapenta can fatten someone because of taking in more calories than those being burnt. Solution: take a 30minute walk in your neighbourhood every day after work and watch the weight burn off.
#50 Sarah. I agree with you. I worked in Lusaka and drove a company personal to holder for 2 years without exercises. Upon leaving the company, I took back the car. Following morning, took a walk escorting my wife to work. Walking only 10 minutes my legs started itching. I had to spend a good 30 min in a warm bath tab before I felt better. My body had slowly become unhealthy without me realising it. All I did was jump into my car even for the shortest distances. I did not burst my waist but my body was certainly unhealthy. Now I take long walks every lunch time. It keeps me fit.
ni ma a.r.v. ANIMAL RECONDITIONED VITAMINS
I have noticed that in the Western world there is more emphasis on one maintaining a good body than quitting smoking.I find it quite odd when i see people jogging early in the morning and after that they go for a smoke.Our culture generally accepts being overweight than being a smoker.Its amazing how a married woman would be congratulated if the husband is puting on weight.In Zambia with the affordabilty of autorec vehicles is making the middleclass becoming more and more unfit. i just hope our hospitals will be able to handle heart attacks
What you see yourself matters more than what the next person calls your structure. I know people’s bodies will change now that body builders have recommended high nshima price.
I dont know if i am the only one but i think the article is a bit shallow in that its too generalized it does not give numbers or quote any research showing obesity is on the increase in Zambia. Moreover my reasearch (not scientific just liek LT’s) shows that in Lusaka you find places like show grounds fair view and zamsure packed not because of Junk food but because of what people now call ‘amatebeto” good home food such as ifisashi, impwa, ifimbombo, dry fish and nshima. Tiyeni tikazidya chabe time for growing thin will come.. when we will long for mango in June and lose apetite.
TIKAINA AT IYO KANO NGA EBO……
“UPND denies media reports
The UPND has dispelled media reports suggesting that the party is pondering on an electoral pact with the Patriotic Front (PF).Party Secretary General, Tiens Kahenya, said in a statement to ZNBC that his party is not contemplating entering into a pact with any political party.Mr. Kkahenya said UPND is currently conducting a post mortem of the last presidential election.He said the party is also focusing on the 2011 tripartite elections.Mr. Kahenya however, said his party will always remain committed to genuine proposals for alliances.” Source: w w w . z nbc . c o . z m / media / news / viewnews . c g i ? c a t e go r y = 8 & i d = 1226342342
“And Mr. Kahenya has advised the Patriotic Front to stop commenting on the failed pact between the two parties.He was reacting to sentiments by PF Publicity and Information Secretary, Given Lubinda over the failed pact before the just ended elections.And UPND Secretary for Information and Publicity, Charles Kakoma has advised Mr. Lubinda to be mindful of what he says about other parties.He maintains that Mr. Sata walked out of the pact meeting, because he believed he had confidence that he would win the election.” Source: w w w . muvitv . com /news / Nov2008 / 10thpnews1 . h t m l
The UPND men are speaking now. Zambians, we are not poor thus YES we all can prove this with president HH.
Tuleinienga fye ba vikara to lose some weight. Dont blame fast food. People need to have more sex.
ubwali nenswa iwe. inswa look like roaches. wafwa walemana.
punde punde #59 ulimupuba.
I’ve been to most parts of the world and I think most Zedians are skinny than avarage. What a hell are you talking about?
Let’s address and tackle poverty first so every citizen will have a choice of what he/she wants to consume. I find it very insulting indeed telling people what they should eat when they can’t even afford it in the first place. Let’s get get real ladies and gentlemen.
imwe please be informed before you write ai. how can you talk about fast foods being the general cause of obesity when the average zambian cant afford it. ma fries and humburger you put apo are luxury for most people. zedians are not as fat as the rest of the world. look at the states and the uk. some ppl are so fat you think they are just going to levitate any minute. i think in zed obesity levels have been quite constant. the ones we’ve seen abnormally gain weight are usually on arvs.
#8 someone is trying to feed u knowledge and u are still backwards. who told u fattness is the way of high life. better be health than have sorrow. go back to school and learn more about obesity. even night school will educate u well, its never late.
The mentality that being fat ninshi munkala bwino is sooo wrong..Most misinformed people are the ones that eat like that and just want to show off. true number 63, fast foods are luxury in zed for most people. obesity probably has other causes such as bad exercise habits or wrong choice of foods..
Thanks for this, I really feel this is something that should be taken on by the media to educate people on good eating habits. Zambian men are big culprits of thick waist lines and pot bellies. they actually take pride in their pot bellies cause people think they are rich. Personally it is very unattractive too.
Eating well includes michopo ku statehouse we dont need another 21 day holiday…check weight with age, how large the cheeks are too LOL
People are fatter because the economy has grown bigger and bigger. More people have more money in their pockets. They can afford any food of their choice. Just come back to zambia and see for yourselves
have you thought about the effects of some medication which some people are taking? even chickens are feed on some of those to make them big in two weeks.
People find it easier to blame food and not themselves.Its just indiscipline that make people become Obese.Yes people can afford to eat out more often.But its also a fact that most people think its a sign of richness if one is fat and pot bellied.
In this day of HIV/AIDS, people attribute being slender as not being healthy.People need information and education in this to avaoid issues like high hospital costs due to Diabetes,Hypertension and other diseases related to obesity.
A health eating habit will help you have a health body When u put Dr. Kaunda & His execellence Chilufya Sata 2gether u might think Ba Sata is the elder bro to Kaunda, why health eating makes the difference
It is fashionable now in Zambia to have a pot belly but pipo quickly forget about the consequences and that is why we are having a lot of complications.THANKS A LOT.
#72 for as long as i can remember, it has been fashionable in zed and africa in general to have a pot-belly and almost not neck at all. why? in communities where the vast majority are poor and malnourished, being overweight has always been seen as a sign of affluence and thought desirable. its only in the future that people will realise that its not so cool to have dimpled elbows after all.for the older generation, views are pretty much the same.for the young stars,its a different story.when i went home earlier this year, i was shocked at the number of girls dieting.
Please mwebena Zambia, dont think the fast foods are making people obesse. The situation only starts when the person gets married and has the wife cooking all the lovely foods for him. Peace of mind also contributes. You can be eating well but if you mind is restless you cant gain wait.
Begin visiting the gim,folks………you got have some abs like me,which makes them dubs melt down when I raise or remove my shirt.
you guys from overseas are funi. u ran away from zambia so that u can stay away from nshima and the rest of the traditonal food but now u r tha frst pipo to diss western food, y didnt u stay in zambia and continue eating traditional food. ur are the frst pipo when u get to to western world u eat burger king soo much and then after u tired of it then u diss it that aint kwl
Boss its not just the food but also beer!!!
I hear what you people are saying, but live is to short to worry about how much fat you are eating daily. Eat and enjoy life