Obesity efforts continue at Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services

Efforts to confront growing obesity trends in Cameroon gather pace at the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Service (CBCHS) through appearances before healthcare leaders and in the media.

Data available via the Global Obesity Observatory shows that obesity levels among Cameroonians have been increasing year-to-year, with the most marked incidence rates being found among the female population. Projections show that by 2030, approximately 60% of adult females will be living with overweight or obesity (40% among males), with similarly alarming figures showing that nearly 35% of young females (under 20) will be living with overweight or obesity by 2030.

It is in this context that Mr Takwe Boniface, Non-Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Plan Manager at CBCHS, has been carrying out presentations with health departments on 'prevention of NCDs along the life course, considering that obesity is both a disease and increases the risk of developing many other NCDs along the life course in the absence of good management'.

Furthermore, interventions in the media have also been carried out, with radio messages encouraging prevention and better management of the twin perils of obesity and diabetes for the Cameroonian population.

CBCHS is a faith-based provider of healthcare facilities throughout much of Cameroon, and is dedicated to NCD management and prevention through a number of activities such as the Know Your Numbers programme. CBCHS recently became a member of World Obesity.