AKINWALE ABOLUWADE
University of Ibadan Health Service joined the global community in commemorating the World Obesity Day 2024.
On the occasion, it disseminated the findings of a study on, ‘Temporal trends in overweight, obesity and chronic disease risks among adolescents and young adults: A 10 year review of pre-admission and medical records of undergraduate and postgraduate students in UI.’
Professor Peter Olamakinde Olapegba, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Administration, who represented the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kayode O. Adebowale, at the event, urged stakeholders to examine the cultural traits that predispose people to obesity.
He urged all to take personal responsibility for their health and called for necessary changes in lifestyles to tackle the challenges of obesity.
Olapegba reiterated the commitment of the University Management to workplace wellness, saying that the University would adopt obesity as an institutional issue and put up the right policy framework aimed at the sustenance of a healthy university community.
The don reminded the stakeholders about the recent move by the University to regulate food vendors on campus to ensure healthy feeding.
He stated that any food vendor on campus that does not display a certificate of fitness from the UHS is operating illegally and should be reported.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor, thereafter, launched the Campus Obesity Network as a high-level mandate to coordinate collective action on the prevention and control of obesity and associated chronic or non-communicable disease risks in the University of Ibadan.
Earlier, the Oyo State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, tasked the investigators to think more on how to involve the adolescents from primary and secondary schools and work more on disseminating relevant information to them.
Stressing that prevention is usually better than cure, she advised everyone to live a healthy life by constantly checking their blood pressure and blood sugar and maintaining a healthy weight.
Dr Ajetunmobi recommended an acronym ‘WASHED’ to sensitise the public on obesity, explaining that W stands for Weight Reduction; A for Alcohol Reduction; S- Smoking cessation/Salt Reduction; H- Health Promotion; E- Exercise; and D- Diet control.
She said that her ministry was ready to collaborate with the University of Ibadan to fight the menace of obesity.
Dr. Aderonke Ajav, Director of the University Health Service, UI, charged members of the university community to be intentional in their efforts to live healthy lives.
The Director of the African Research Universities Alliance Centre of Excellence for Non-Communicable Diseases, Prof. M.O. Owolabi, expressed concern that obesity and hypertension were epidemic driven by lifestyles.
He said, most often, deaths that occur from obesity and hypertension are preventable or controllable by water, diet and exercises.
Other highlights of the occasion included testimonial of a personal experience; presentation of results and recommendations by the Principal Investigator, Dr. Abayomi Oluwasanu.
The audience seized the opportunities to ask questions, make comments and get feedback.
