- Hillary Muhalya argues that Kenya’s rising obesity and diabetes burden requires more than individual lifestyle advice.
- He says new treatments offer opportunities, but prevention, screening and affordability must remain central priorities.
- Muhlaya warns that childhood obesity and undiagnosed diabetes could deepen Kenya’s chronic-disease crisis.
Kenya is facing a growing health challenge that can no longer be treated simply as a matter of personal lifestyle choices: experts are warning that rising obesity is helping fuel the country’s growing burden of diabetes and other chronic diseases.
The warning comes as new treatment options for obesity and Type 2 diabetes enter the Kenyan market, renewing debate over whether the country is prepared to confront the underlying causes of the non-communicable disease crisis rather than waiting until patients develop serious complications.
At a scientific launch in Nairobi on September 12, Novo Nordisk introduced Ozempic, used in the management of Type 2 diabetes, and Wegovy, used for weight management among eligible people living with obesity or overweight and associated health conditions. The launch brought together health professionals, policymakers and other stakeholders to discuss diabetes, obesity, early diagnosis and treatment.
Obesity no longer just a lifestyle debate
Consultant physician and endocrinologist Dr Roseline Ngugi, President of the Kenya Diabetes Study Group, warned that obesity should not simply be dismissed as a consequence of individual lifestyle choices.
She described obesity as a metabolic condition closely associated with cardio-metabolic diseases, including Type 2 diabetes and hypertension. She also warned that Kenya’s diabetes burden may be significantly underestimated because many people living with the disease have not been diagnosed.
According to figures cited at the Nairobi meeting, diabetes prevalence in Kenya is estimated at between 3.3 and 4.5 per cent, while as many as 60 per cent of people living with diabetes may be undiagnosed.
The implications extend beyond blood sugar levels.
Obesity is associated with an increased risk of hypertension, cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease. For patients who develop diabetes and hypertension and later suffer kidney complications, the financial and medical consequences can become considerably more severe for both families and the health system.
The concern is particularly significant because obesity is increasingly affecting younger populations.
Recent international evidence has also intensified the discussion around childhood obesity.
Novo Nordisk reported results from its STEP Young trial involving children aged six to under 12 with obesity. After 68 weeks, 40.4 per cent of children receiving semaglutide alongside lifestyle modification were no longer classified as having obesity, compared with none in the placebo group. All participants also received dietary and physical-activity interventions.
The findings do not mean medication should replace healthy diets, physical activity or prevention.
Instead, they underscore the growing recognition that severe obesity can require medical attention alongside lifestyle interventions.
The affordability question
For Kenya, however, the biggest test may not be whether modern treatments exist, but whether ordinary patients can access them.
Experts have called for wider access to treatment while stressing early screening, responsible prescribing and long-term patient follow-up.
The introduction of new medicines therefore presents both an opportunity and a policy challenge: Kenya must expand treatment options without allowing prevention, public education and early diagnosis to take a back seat.
The emerging message is clear.
Kenya’s diabetes battle cannot be fought only in hospitals after complications appear.
Tackling obesity, improving nutrition, encouraging physical activity, expanding screening and ensuring affordable treatment must become part of one coordinated national response.
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For millions of Kenyans, the real game-changer may not be a single medicine, but a health system capable of preventing obesity early, detecting diabetes sooner and treating patients before preventable complications become life-threatening.
By Hillary Muhalya
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