Dr Bartholomew Brai, a nutritionist at the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, has advised full time house wives to minimise fats and oil intake to keep their weights in check.
Brai told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday that sedentary lifestyle and lack of physical activity could cause harmful ailment to an overweight body.
According to him, sit at home women must imbibe self-discipline and avoid overeating.
“A full time housewife whose intention is to appeal to the husband should eat all regular foods in the right combination and proportions.
“It is helpful to have up to four servings of vegetables and fruits in a day, minimising the intake of fats and oils, drink clean and safe water.
“A woman who eats very large amount of food on the spot is not going to have it go down well with a man who hates fat; she must watch her portion, size, appetite and very importantly engage in physical activity as well,’’ Brai said.
He said that other things that could make a woman gain weight included pregnancy, especially the “eating for two syndromes”.
He said menopause, lack of sleep, not eating enough as well as birth control pills could also add to a woman’s weight.
The nutritionist advised women, who wished to cut down in their sizes and properly manage excess weight gain to consult a trained and qualified nutritionist or dietitian for guidance.
He said the ideal weight of a woman should fall into the ‘healthy range’ of a Body Mass Index (BMI) chart of 18.5 to 24.9.
He said that BMI was the most common measure for determining healthy weight and measure of the amount of fat in the body.
He said although BMI was not so simple to determine, a number of factors such as body composition, age and activity level had to be taken into consideration.
Brai said overweight and obesity increase the risk of Type 2 Diabetes, heart diseases, stroke, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis and certain cancers.
He said that there were also the problems of low self-esteem and self-pity that usually came with being overweight. (NAN)