Our main story this week is about how women are affected by their weight. African men are traditionally thought to prefer bigger women.

Skinny women are frequently sneered at as one of the more pernicious manifestations of the colonisation of African minds.

In a swathe of Africa that runs from Mauritania in the west to Somalia in the east, women are put through gruelling processes to grow as much fat as possible before marriage.

In south-eastern Nigeria, girls are kept in "fattening rooms” for weeks, prevented from exerting themselves and given high-protein food. In southern Niger, girls take appetite-enhancing pills and drink excessive amounts of water.

In Mauritania, their ankles are bound to increase water retention as they are fed huge quantities of sweetened goat’s cream. In those countries, even today, fat means wealth. thin is not in. It is equated with poverty.

But here things seem to be changing. More are more people are rejecting the notion that fatness is closer to Africanness and jumping on the scales. Talk of diets and exercise is on the up.

The West has long been obsessed by waif like figures but this is something new here and people seem to be a little confused as to what they want their bodies to look like. My advice?

Keep an eye on our health and fitness columns to see how you can feel and look your best. Have a great weekend!

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