25 per cent of Nigerians are overweight, urged to seek dietitian’s advice

The Chief Medical Director, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Professor Jesse Otegbayo, says that 25 per cent of Nigerians are overweight and should make healthy food choices on the advice of a dietitian to avoid its attendant health problems.

Professor Otegbayo stated this in a keynote address he delivered at the opening ceremony of the 2021 National Scientific Conference of the Dietitians Association of Nigeria (DAN), with the theme “Sustainable Food Systems: the Role of Dietitians and Impact on National Development”.

He stated that improved quality of life through appropriate feeding helps to prolong and give meaning to life despite the occurrence of chronic medical illnesses.

According to Professor Otegbayo, “Malnutrition does not involve under-nutrition only but it also encompasses over-nutrition bearing in mind the increasing prevalence of obesity globally even in our country Nigeria. It has become a growing health threat globally.

“Research has shown a pooled crude prevalence of overweight persons in Nigeria as of 2020 to be placed at 25 per cent, meaning one in every four adults in Nigeria is overweight. Therefore making healthy food choices on the advice of a dietitian is very important for both health promotion and disease prevention, with the inclusion of curative measures in the advent of diseases.”

Professor Otegbayo declared that in the era of evidence-based medical practice, nutrition-based researches are a major area where dietitians can make an impact through review on our local ingredients and the nutrient values of our locally grown foods.

He added: “For many of our food supplies such as the sugar-based drinks which have flooded the markets, some fast foods which are readily available meals that are largely consumed by our young children, what nourishing values do they have?

“As educators of health, these evidence-based practices will help advance the education and counseling given to our numerous clients and patients, thereby protecting them against the consumption of unhealthy, poorly nutritious meals with its resultant consequence in the homes and the nation as a whole,” he said.

In her welcome address, the National President, DAN, Professor Elizabeth Ngwu, said that the role of dietitians in the health sector was paramount especially with the increase in the incidence of diet-related Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

Ngwu, represented by Mr Emmanuel Ukwondi, the First Vice President, DAN, said that the importance of an adequate diet to good health cannot be overemphasised.

In his remark, Oyo State Commissioner for Health, Dr Taiwo Ladipo, speaking through the Director of Nursing Services, Ministry of Health, Oyo State Mr Aderemi Ajiboye, urged dietitians to take on the responsibility of providing sustainable solutions to the problem of malnutrition in the country and as advocates of healthy eating, play a key role in reversing the trend of NCDs in the country.

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