Women in Nakuru lead in the number of obese cases compared to their male counterparts.

This is according to the Kenya Demographic Health Survey Nakuru, which also placed Nakuru County among the top ten counties with the highest number of obesity cases in both sexes.

The county ranked eighth with 50.8% of women and 22.4% of men affected.

According to the survey, women in the county are more affected than men.

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To get a deeper understanding of why the county is among the top in obesity cases, we spoke to a nutritionist, Dr Jemimah Bonareri, who says it all boils down to the food people eat.

"The lifestyle that many people lead is what exposes them to this disease. The routine that most people are used to is really the determining factor. If you look at the cost of living at the moment, not everyone can afford to go to the gym, so the solutions may be to go for long walks and also to watch what you eat," says Dr Bonareri.

She says the reason why women are most affected is because of the use of family planning and the fact that some of them do not engage in physical activity.

"The only sure way to know if you are obese or not is to have a body mass index (BMI). When you look at someone, you might think everything is fine, but when you do a BMI, it reveals the true state," she said.

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On the other hand, a person may not be obese but have high cholesterol levels, which can still be detrimental to their health.

"It is only when a lipid test is conducted that you are able to measure the cholesterol level, in some cases you find that those with a normal BMI have high cholesterol and vice versa. This in itself is equally dangerous as high cholesterol leads to heart disease. The normal range of a BMI is between 18.5-24.9, while that of the lipid test should be around 5mmol/L," Dr Bonareri said.

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Why women in Nakuru are leading in the number of obesity cases

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Bret Sanya