My wife began noticing that I occasionally saw a similar overweight person on TV, with puffed-out cheeks, a distended abdomen, and a shining face. She thought I had become delighted. She said that I became excited as I began to mutter under my breath, "Life Is Good!" As some people who were overweight had great difficulty in both breathing and moving. Some of us were both fast on our feet and were quick all-rounders, their movements being smooth and what seemed exaggerated due to their body mass. They had quick and precise body moves and could out-dance anyone thinner with a similar height or lower BMI, maybe because they had more parts to move. This ideology on loving overweight ladies may have come from a previous life in Nigeria. I could totally blame my senior brother and closer male relatives for inserting these thoughts on me. As we would become excited, whenever we saw such a lady with a big tummy, big buttocks, big breast dancing and wiggling all the fat and flesh on TV to the sound of Nigerian music, the muscles would move the overlying subcutaneous fat to the sound of rhythmic music and the buttocks, breast or abdomen and these would "shake" or vibrate to the music as if they had a life of their own distinct from the underlying body. We would both shout and grunt and make noises, dancing and turning, shouting "Life Is Good". Certain of my male relatives would be so taken over by the music and seeing the ladies dance that their bodies would begin shaking as well, twitching as if they were in an epileptic fit, their hands on their heads and abdomen and their eyes would roll upwards, subsequently falling to the floor, as if they were in the form of religious ecstasy or on drugs. My senior brother especially loved one northern Nigerian politician who spoke in distinct eloquent Queen's English, but my brother loved this politician because of the fact that he had no distinctive neck, i.e. you could not find out where the chin ended, and the neck started and also where the neck ended and chest started. His cheeks were puffed out, and his eyes depressed as a result of the surrounding fat. Also, it seems then in Nigeria, when you had reached a certain weight, you had 'arrived, and people began calling you 'Chief' or 'Alhaji'. This was a sign that you were 'well taken care of', and people respected you due to your big physical stature. Although I was as "thin as a Mosquito" for all of my teens and till my mid-twenties, people in Nigeria always thought that either I was suffering from a form of a chronic debilitating disease or I was always on a diet. But on the contrary, I was very healthy and ate like a horse. My parents were constantly giving me worm expellant and treating me for one thing or another. God saved me that I entered medical school. Otherwise, I would have been on constant medication ranging from blood tonic, condensed milk, vitamins, antibiotics, etc., given by well-meaning relatives and friends. The fact that I did not gain weight despite all this added to the speculation that I was not taking care of myself well and needed additional help. They began pushing ladies in my direction who were great cooks and would 'fatten' me up, to which I politely replied, "No, thank you".
I remember whenever my senior brother wanted to taunt me in primary school, he would say a particular thin married woman "was your wife" - i.e. me and her sister who was also married to another man and slightly overweight "was his". To add insult to injury, the other woman referred to me as her "husband" anytime she saw me or asked me from my brother. This lady was constantly asking about my welfare from my brother, which he gleefully relaid to me. She would further request whether he was good taking care of "her husband" for her, and I would become furious at this, to the extent of almost crying. There was a time she sent gifts of sweets. I cannot remember whether we ate them or not but it made me very angry. Some of the fights I had with my brother were because of this woman. It was not that she was ugly. On the contrary, she was charming and had a great personality, a positive outlook on life, beautiful shinny curly dark black hair, smooth, flawless skin, and dimples appeared when she smiled, but fragile. The exact words my brother used could not be repeated in polite conversations, but it was along the lines that I would be freezing, bitter, and alone and with nothing to warm me up at night or in the early cold harmattan mornings and at that young age I did not want to hear this.
From my personal experience, it seems we overweight people are delighted. It might be a defence mechanism, or it might be just that we do not care. They do seem genuinely happy. The daily mail has recently said that they are happier because it is in their genes. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2235860/Fat-people-ARE-jolly--genes-mean-theyre-likely-depressed.html But a fragile person seems to bring back tales of David Copperfield, and there was a character named Uriah Heep - who was described as thin, very sad and dangerous. I recently attended a reunion and did feel like saying, "Life Is Good". Most of us were overweight, and it seems the fatter we were, the happier we seemed. While the thin ones restricted themselves to corners, we overweight ones were in the centre, hogging the limelight. "HAAA! Ajasssssss! Long time!" one of them said, gripping my hand, and then hugging me, and then throwing me aside. "Where is your madam? You have offended me oh! Na only you waka come?" (How can you come alone?) I profusely apologised, "it would not happen again ", I recalled myself muttering. The overweight ones among us made the occasion rock. At the same time, we ducked into the juicy meat, chicken, pounded yam, amala, different soups, jollof rice, cake, etc., the thin ones stayed in their corner quietly chewing on their salads and vegetarian meat. The overweight ones were the loudest, and the thin ones just nodded their heads occasionally. They would look at the centre when someone cracked a joke from our side after the whole hall echoed with loud laughter.
One of our favourite programs on TV is the 'biggest loser', where they come in as a happy jolly but at times sad individuals because of the 'pain' of being fat and after about 12 weeks they all seem happier but thin. In this program, they get to vote off people from the losing team. In the beginning, I have watched more people voted off because the person they feel will lose the weight without help and keep the person who would require help. But as they become thinner and thinner, it seems they become nastier and vote strategically.
It seems my brother's love with overweight women was limited as his wife, it turned out, was "skinner than a broomstick" when compared to the ones we often romanced about when we were young (but he assured me that she would soon get fatter). I, especially after entering medical school, was taught the dangers of being overweight and their problems. I quickly reviewed my desire and ended up marrying a thinner version. I learned about the problems of being overweight, the diseases associated with this condition Diabetes, Hypertension, Cancer, etc. As I was growing older, I found out that I, too, was gaining weight. So, I have been fighting to my weight since reaching my early 40's. The problem is that the weight silently creeps up on you. By the time you look at your recent photo, you nearly cry out! After a while, I managed to control my weight and was constantly battling with it, using other parameters and controlling them, i.e. blood pressure, blood cholesterol through exercise and diet. The thing that actually brought it home was that my brother had a severe stroke. Another close relation had a heart attack and required a triple bypass. And the majority of my friends are having strokes, heart attacks, type 2 diabetes etc. The world is in the pains of an obesity epidemic. Some children now become grossly obese, taking in rich food high in fat and calories. The sugary drinks and the crisps, biscuits, etc., do not help.
Yesterday (Thursday 20th November 2014), I watched the BBC Morning News when I learnt that we were in the middle of a worldwide obesity epidemic. Hence, to me, it sounded like you are more likely to die from the effects or complications of overeating than that of undereating. Personally, in whatever form, it seems like good news in a way (one thought that more people were dying of starvation).
It further added that by 2030, more than half the world population will be obese or overweight. I already know that pictures of "starving children in Africa" are not actually because there is no food (in absolute terms), but it is a political problem. We have more resources to feed our children, and the problem will be getting the food to them. Giving money does help in the short term, and Aid does cause problems of its own. Still, for long substantial development, we need changes in the way of thinking, transparent governments, accountability, sound policies, and workable check and balances. However, in short, people need not be hungry if we get our act together. The BBC was coating a report done by the McKinsey Global Institute, which put it in financial terms. It costs the world economy £1.3 trillion per year and the UK Economy £47 billion per year. "It suggests that it is about the same as smoking or armed conflict and greater than both alcoholism and climate change." The report said that we are overeating and we have to reduce our portion size. Eat more fruits, nuts and vegetables and reduce calorie intake.
Now, the government has seen the effect on the economy, and this is where it hurts them most as it means less tax (fewer people working) and more expenditure more spent on Hospitals, Sickness, Days Off, Treatments, Operations, etc. If one is obese, it may be a happier life but possibly a shorter one, which could later result in pain and disappointment. Is life good? Yes, and if you want to extend it to its fullness, you may have to make some life changes like more exercise, smaller portions, less fat, more fruit, etc.
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