20091215

LONDON (Reuters) - Obesity is becoming more common among poor city dwellers in Africa because of easier access to cheap, high fat, high sugar foods, scientists said on Tuesday.

Researchers looking at data from seven African countries found the number of people overweight or obese increased by nearly 35 percent between the early 1990s and early 2000s and the rate of increase in obesity was higher among poor people.

"Given the chronic nature of most diseases associated with obesity and by extension the huge cost of treatment, the prospects look grim for the already under-funded and ill-equipped African health care systems unless urgent action is taken," said Abdhalah Ziraba, who worked on the research with the African Population and Health Research Centre in Nairobi.

The study, published in the BioMed Central Public Health journal, found that while rich people in urban areas of Africa were more likely to be overweight or obese than others, the rate of increase in obesity was higher among the poor.

The data chimes with findings from the World Health Organisation, which said in October that being overweight has now overtaken being underweight among the world's leading causes of death.

"Despite being the least urbanised continent, Africa's population is becoming increasingly urban and its cities are growing at unprecedented rates," Ziraba said in the study.

"In spite of rampant poverty in urban areas, access to cheap foods with a high content of fat and sugar is commonplace."

Obesity levels are rising across the world and threatening to overwhelm health care systems and government health budgets with the costs of handling the high number of cases of diabetes, heart disease and cancer that being overweight can cause.