Dear Diary:
The other day while out with le’ bae aka baby dzaaddy aka sponsor aka blesser (clearly I can go on and on lol!) We spotted something very peculiar. A young girl, must have been 9years, there about, was walking towards a table of what we gathered was her family members. It was the way she walked, more like hobbled, that first caught my attention. Add on to that, was the way her weight seemed to literally weigh her down, slow down her walk and make her look waaay older. She honestly looked like she was the mother of the other kids at the table! Her cousins! Diary, I am all for being a child and having fun at that age, not taking so many things seriously, eating junk every once in a while and all that but no. This was too much.
While making this observation, I turned to baba watoto and made him swear to me that we as a family will always watch what we eat. Sio eti tukule veggies pekee, but a healthy balanced diet with fries sometimes won’t hurt. Most importantly, being and staying active.
It was just the next day as I left the office that I saw yet another boy, who was admiring the red Ferrari and green Lamborghini that are parked at the entrance of the building – I think to remind us that YOTE YAWEZEKANA. He must have been 10, looking like a 30 something year old pot bellied Kenyan politician. My heart sank and was partly UPSET at whoever his parents/guardians were.
I don’t care what this new breed of dot com parents have to say, but a child SHOULD NOT be that size at that age. We need to stop with these BS excuses ati “Ni vile anakulanga poa sana” sijui “Anapenda mashakura ya mama yake sana” and all that crap. 
Get that child outside the house, stop buying them junk food, exercise with them and also find out where they are mentally and emotionally. Over eating (and mostly junk food) tends to be a way out for many kinds as well as grown ups, who are going through something to use food as an escape. This isn’t an American problem alone. It is very real in Kenya as well.
If we, parents, guardians, cousins, older siblings, continue doing nothing, we will lose our children to this disease called obesity that comes with many other diseases. 
We MUST fight back.
How can we do that though?
Leave a comment below and help save a child today. Thank you.
Live. Love. Learn
Mwalimu Rachel.
Whoooa This article is insightful.
Okay I may not be a parent yet but when a child who is barely 1year old weighing 35Kgs that’s sickness. Trust me if the child grows up with that pace; they’ll blame the parent.
If that was my child at 9yrs she would feed on nothing but Vegetables yaani Mboga (Sukumawiki) to be precise.
Thank you Rachel
Hahaha! I share your sentiments Winnie! Obesity is a serious disease! Kenyans should wake up! It is killing our children!
It’s really a very bad thing to have obese kids and their parents too
We should really watch our diet.
So true Migwi. It starts with us at home.
Parents/guardians should permit their kids to at least play around… That’s also exercise
Isiwe tu junk+cartoons+books
Kweli kabisa dear Finny. As we speak JJ kako nje kaki ride bike!
I’m my opinion, parents should watch their kids diet and they will be forever indebted to them when they grow up.Kids will have proper self esteem and they will be healthy if we train them to take care of their diet while growing up.
Speaking from experience, I came to eat junk while in High school, all along I was exposed to proper diet and this went a long way to help me grow as a person and to be able to do a bunch of things, I take care of my diet even at this age and I’m grateful for my Parents.
My opinion is that, it all starts with the Parents, develop proper diet for your kids and they will do the same and take it to their kids as well!!
Totally agree with you Mark. The parents are the foundation of what the kids eat.
This is a serious problem. But now assume the child buys the junk themselves and eat while u can’t see. Maybe the only solution is encourage exercising and not dishing out too much pocket money to them.
Hi Reinhard. Training them and telling them the benefits of eating right (even if not all the time) will resonate with the child even when the parents are not there to supervise. So that coupled with exercise will help them grow healthier. When it comes to pocket money, as they grow up, they might want to “revenge” and eat whatever they want since they are now working and have the money to get whatever they want.
More often than not junk food falls as the scapegoat for obesity and weight gain related issues. In my view, it’s more of a lifestyle thing. I’m not saying junk food is not to blame but let’s break it down for a sec. Fries, pizzas, burgers and the rest are derived from natural foods, they are then processed through the addition of additives and preservatives. The main culprit in foods, more so processed foods is the calorie content. High calorie intake coupled with a sedentary lifestyle will lead up, in this case, kids being overweight and some being down right obese. If we are able to match our calorie intake to our level of activity we will be on much safer ground. Yes, we cannot eat just enough calories for survival, bodily functions and daily routines, we need a little extra. Here is where engaging in activities that help burn off the extra calories come in, such as sports, workouts, aerobics, dancing and other physical exerting activities come into play.
So watch out for what you eat, ‘junk food’ in controlled rations is okay and burn off the excess calories regardless of what you eat by getting active and adopting a healthy lifestyle.
I could be in love. Hahahaha! Well said Mugambi. Very well said. Asante.
Thank you.