• World
    • Africa
    • Asia Pacific
    • Central & South Asia
    • Europe
    • Latin America & Caribbean
    • Middle East & North Africa
    • North America
  • Coronavirus
  • Politics
    • US Election
    • US politics
    • Donald Trump
    • Brexit
    • European Union
    • India
    • Arab world
  • Economics
    • Finance
    • Eurozone
    • International Trade
  • Business
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Startups
    • Technology
  • Culture
    • Entertainment
    • Music
    • Film
    • Books
    • Travel
  • Environment
    • Climate change
    • Smart cities
    • Green Economy
  • Global Change
    • Education
    • Refugee Crisis
    • International Aid
    • Human Rights
  • International Security
    • ISIS
    • War on Terror
    • North Korea
    • Nuclear Weapons
  • Science
    • Health
  • 360 °
  • The Interview
  • In-Depth
  • Insight
  • Quick Read
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Interactive
  • My Voice
  • About
  • FO Store
Sections
  • World
  • Coronavirus
  • US Election
  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Business
  • Culture
  • Sign Up
  • Login
  • Publish

Make Sense of the world

Unique insight from 2,000+ contributors in 80+ Countries

Close

Women Disproportionately Affected by Rising Obesity in Morocco

By Anna Boots • Feb 04, 2016
Moroccan Tagine

© Shutterstock

Greater education about a healthy diet and lifestyle and increased exercising facilities for women are needed to fight obesity in Morocco.

Like many developing countries, Morocco is in the midst of a health transition. Until recently, infectious diseases and undernourishment posed the greatest threats to Moroccans’ health.

But due to changing demographics, diets and lifestyles, Moroccans are increasingly threatened by the same chronic diseases that plague the Western world: heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity. The rising rates of these diseases are results of changing trends in diets and lifestyles as the Moroccan population becomes wealthier and more urban.

Obesity is steadily on the rise in Morocco, affecting over 20% of the population. While the public fight against obesity is familiar to Americans, such efforts are far more complex in a country that is still simultaneously battling undernourishment.

A generation ago, far more Moroccans were threatened by undernutrition than by overnutrition. Rising incomes, urbanization and globalization have all contributed to increased food security in Morocco in recent decades, as well as greater availability of new and different kinds of foods. All of these factors have combined to change dietary consumption patterns in the country, putting many Moroccans at high risk for obesity and its associated health problems.

Globalization has been a major force behind dietary change in Morocco. The introduction and popularization of Western food products like Coca Cola and pasta have increased Moroccans’ already high intake of sugars and carbohydrates.

Western fast food chains such as McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Burger King are now commonplace in urban Morocco. Unlike the United States, these fast food chains are still prohibitively expensive for average Moroccans, and are frequented instead by urban, middle- and upper-class Moroccans. The McDonald’s in Fes, for example, is considered a destination for a nice night out on the weekends among the middle-class Moroccans residing in the Ville Nouvelle (the new part of the city).

Western influences aside, particularities in Moroccan culture and cuisine also play major roles in the obesity epidemic. Traditional Moroccan cuisine is very high in carbohydrates. Bread has long been a staple of North African cuisine, and is used as a utensil to consume savory meat and vegetable stews called tajines. These dishes are heavy in meat and oil, which Moroccans sop up using their bread. Poorer Moroccans who cannot afford large quantities of meat in their tajines often compensate with high quantities of bread (oftentimes a small loaf per person per meal).

Moroccan women

© Shutterstock

Ironically, very poor Moroccans who cannot afford meat at all tend to have healthier diets that are centered on beans and pulses such as lentils and chickpeas. Because the ability to purchase meat is still a sign of wealth in Morocco, most people who can afford meat eat and serve it abundantly.

Sugar is also a major culprit of the rising obesity rates in Morocco. A staple of the Moroccan diet, sugar is used in abundance to sweeten Morocco’s “national drink”: mint tea. Moroccan mint tea is itself an early example of globalization affecting traditional cuisine, as the drink is prepared using green gunpowder tea from China, local mint and sugar, which was originally imported. Most Moroccans drink multiple glasses of sugary mint tea a day. The drink is the centerpiece of many important daily rituals in Morocco—most notably when welcoming guests.

What’s the Cause?

Obesity affects women at far higher rates than men. Of Morocco’s 300,000 obese people, 63% are women. There are a few factors at play here.

First, female fatness is still considered a sign of beauty, fertility and prosperity in many parts of Morocco, especially the south. In contrast to the Western obsession with thinness, many Moroccan men still prefer women with significant amounts of body fat, which they see as correlated with a woman’s wealth and readiness to bear children. Marriage and children are highly coveted in Moroccan society.

Second, the lack of opportunities for women to exercise regularly is also to blame for the gender differential when it comes to obesity in Morocco. Many Moroccan women feel uncomfortable exercising publicly, due to frequent sexual harassment and cultural norms in many areas that make it abnormal for a woman to exercise in the streets, especially alone. Of course, many rural Moroccan women spend most of their days performing difficult physical labor, which partially explains why obesity affects urban women more than rural women. While men can frequently be seen jogging or playing soccer outdoors, women face far greater cultural barriers to participating in the same activities.

Third, obesity in Morocco is positively correlated with income, but negatively correlated with education. This suggests that access to more expensive and highly caloric Western food products such as fast food and soft drinks is a major culprit in the rise in obesity rates, especially in urban areas. It also shows that as Moroccans become more educated, they are able to make healthier choices related to diet and lifestyle and are at less of a risk for becoming obese.

As the Moroccan government begins to acknowledge overnutrition as a major health risk alongside undernutrition, greater education about a healthy diet and lifestyle and increased exercise opportunities for women would go a long way in fighting obesity.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.

Photo Credit: Curioso / Shanti Hesse / Shutterstock.com


Fair Observer - World News, Politics, Economics, Business and CultureWe bring you perspectives from around the world. Help us to inform and educate. Your donation is tax-deductible. Join over 400 people to become a donor or you could choose to be a sponsor.

Share Story
Categories360° Analysis, Blog, Global Change, Middle East & North Africa, Science TagsMoroccan, Moroccan women, Morocco, Obesity
Join our network of more than 2,000 contributors to publish your perspective, share your story and shape the global conversation. Become a Fair Observer and help us make sense of the world.

READ MORE IN THIS 360° SERIES

Bringing Health Care to India, One Family at a Time
By Rohin K. Patel • Jan 25, 2017
How One Couple Brought Health Care to Haiti
By Shelley Briggs Callahan • Oct 14, 2016
El Nino Exacerbates Africa's AIDS Epidemic
By Hugo Norton • Sep 15, 2016
Bringing Sustainable Healthcare to Rural India
By Thakor Patel & Rohin K. Patel • Aug 02, 2016
Education is the Key to a Healthier UAE
By Khadija Mosaad • Jul 19, 2016
New Frontiers of Cancer Research
By Anna Pivovarchuk & Vijay Reddy • May 26, 2016
Migrants Need Access to Health Care
By Sophia Akram • Mar 26, 2016
Is Music Damaging Your Hearing?
By Jay Jindal • Mar 03, 2016
The Right to Health is a Human Right
By Diya Uberoi • Feb 26, 2016
Is Zika Related to Climate Change?
By Jonatan Lassa • Feb 09, 2016
Zika Spreads Through the Americas
By Fair Observer • Feb 04, 2016
Reproductive Rights and Justice in America
By Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective • Feb 02, 2016
Ukraine’s Imaginary Patients: Why Health Care Reform is Long Overdue
By Olena Lennon • Jan 26, 2016
Single Moroccan Mothers Face Challenges in Accessing Health Care
By Kaylee Steck • Jan 02, 2016
Health is Truly Wealth
By Chye Shu Wen & Atul Singh • Jan 02, 2016

Post navigation

Previous PostPrevious One Stitch Closer to Breaking the Cycle of Homelessness
Next PostNext Single Moroccan Mothers Face Challenges in Accessing Health Care
Subscribe
Register for $9.99 per month and become a member today.
Publish
Join our community of more than 2,500 contributors to publish your perspective, share your narrative and shape the global discourse.
Donate
We bring you perspectives from around the world. Help us to inform and educate. Your donation is tax-deductible.

Explore

  • About
  • Authors
  • FO Store
  • FAQs
  • Republish
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact

Regions

  • Africa
  • Asia Pacific
  • Central & South Asia
  • Europe
  • Latin America & Caribbean
  • Middle East & North Africa
  • North America

Topics

  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Business
  • Culture
  • Environment
  • Global Change
  • International Security
  • Science

Sections

  • 360°
  • The Interview
  • In-Depth
  • Insight
  • Quick Read
  • Video
  • Podcasts
  • Interactive
  • My Voice

Daily Dispatch


© Fair Observer All rights reserved
We Need Your Consent
We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. Learn more about how we use cookies or edit your cookie preferences. Privacy Policy. My Options I Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Edit Cookie Preferences

The Fair Observer website uses digital cookies so it can collect statistics on how many visitors come to the site, what content is viewed and for how long, and the general location of the computer network of the visitor. These statistics are collected and processed using the Google Analytics service. Fair Observer uses these aggregate statistics from website visits to help improve the content of the website and to provide regular reports to our current and future donors and funding organizations. The type of digital cookie information collected during your visit and any derived data cannot be used or combined with other information to personally identify you. Fair Observer does not use personal data collected from its website for advertising purposes or to market to you.

As a convenience to you, Fair Observer provides buttons that link to popular social media sites, called social sharing buttons, to help you share Fair Observer content and your comments and opinions about it on these social media sites. These social sharing buttons are provided by and are part of these social media sites. They may collect and use personal data as described in their respective policies. Fair Observer does not receive personal data from your use of these social sharing buttons. It is not necessary that you use these buttons to read Fair Observer content or to share on social media.

 
Necessary
Always Enabled

These cookies essential for the website to function.

Analytics

These cookies track our website’s performance and also help us to continuously improve the experience we provide to you.

Performance
Uncategorized

This cookie consists of the word “yes” to enable us to remember your acceptance of the site cookie notification, and prevents it from displaying to you in future.

Preferences
Save & Accept