Obesity weighs down on Tunisian women

MEN AND WOMEN in Tunisia are not equal before the scales. Tunisian women are three times as likely to suffer from obesity as their male compatriots. This great inequality was revealed in a study* by Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) and its partners  (1) , and differs from what nutritionists have observed in the North, where more men tend to be overweight. The disparity is even greater in cities: a sedentary lifestyle, temptations offered by mass-market retail… Their role in society makes women particularly vulnerable to risk factors in an urban environment. Body mass index (BMI) is also increasing amongst those with a lower education level and without employment, further broadening the difference from their masculine counterparts.  A BMI above 25 increases health risks:
cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure… The latter already affects nearly a third of all Tunisians above the age of 35, of which almost a million are obese today. Prevention is better than cure: healthcare authorities must aim their actions at the population segment that is most at risk, namely women.

In Tunisia today,  one out of four inhabitants over the age of 35 is obese, in other words nearly a million people. Urbanisation, a sedentary lifestyle, temptations offered by mass-market retail… Tunisians are seeing the waistlines thickening. Or Tunisian women, to be more specific: women in this age category are much more affected, with nearly 40% suffering from obesity, compared to less than 15% of the men. This great disparity has been brought to light by IRD researchers and their partners. Nutritionists are noticing this trend in the majority of emerging and developing countries. The opposite is true in industrialised countries in the Global North where men and women are more or less equal before the scales, or where men even tend to be more corpulent  (2) . Until now, little research has been done regarding gender inequality in terms of overweight. Tunisia is one of the countries where this trend in appears to be the strongest.

Women, a population segment at risk

Researchers have studied a representative sample of more than 5,000 Tunisian men and women between the ages of 35 and 70 from all social categories, urban as well as rural. They evaluated their BMI, which, if above 25, qualifies the person as overweight. Anything over 30 is considered as obese. According to scientists’ calculations, the national prevalence of overweight in the studied age group in Tunisia is above 60%. The rate is relatively high amongst men, of whom more than 50% are overweight. But it is even higher amongst the women, of whom more than 70% suffer from excess weight. The difference increases as the needle climbs on the scale: when it comes to obesity, more than three times as many women in Tunisia are affected than their male compatriots. Whilst the phenomenon is not insignificant in men, with a rate of just over 13%, it concerns 37% of their fellow countrywomen. Whereas extreme obesity – a BMI of over 40 – is rare in the men, it is slightly more frequent in the women.

Rising inequality in cities

Globally speaking,  the risk of corpulence is greater in cities than in rural areas. An urban environment holds particular dangers, with a more obviously sedentary lifestyle, supermarkets that offer a variety of rich, fatty foods, fast-food chains, etc. Two-thirds of Tunisia’s inhabitants live in cities and are therefore exposed to these risks. The research team has pointed out that city life also accentuates gender inequality when it comes to overweight. With a metabolism that makes them even more vulnerable to an energy imbalΠΑΙΔΙΚΑ ΠΑΠΟΥΤΣΙΑ