Abuja – People with obesity have higher risk of breast cancer, a physician with Garki Hospital in Abuja, Dr Adamu Onu, has said
Onu, said this in an interview on Thursday in Abuja, disclosed that studies had shown that obesity was partly responsible for the increase in breast cancer among women.
He, however, noted that obesity does not directly lead to breast cancer but to other ailment, such as high blood pressure, bad cholesterol and stroke, among others.
According to him, obesity means having too much body fat; it is not the same as being overweight, which means weighing too much.
A person may be overweight from extra muscle, bone, or water, as well as from having too much fat.
‘'In this part of the world, we already seen more and more people been obese; in fact, there is a study that says one out of every three Nigerian women is obese."
“There is what we call body mass index, that is a way we measure it; if we measure your body mass index and it's above 30 that is the indication that the person is obese."
He said that in order not to be obese, the normal body mass index should be less than 25, adding that one should maintain a normal body weight.
Onu said that index could be calculated by measuring of one's height in meters and the weight in kilogram then divided the weight by the height.
He said that to burn the fat one needed regular and moderate intensity exercises at least 5 times in a week, adding that such exercise should includes skipping, swimming, jumping, jogging, among others for 20 to 30 minutes every day.
He advised that one should reduce the intake of carbohydrate, animal fat, adding that more intake of poly unsaturated oil would be much healthy.
"You can substitute fish for meat, chicken without the skin, take lots of vegetables and fresh fruits and have an active lifestyle.'' (NAN)
