Weight loss treatments in Kenya explode as attitudes towards beauty change

In Kenya, where being overweight was once seen as a sign of wealth and success, there is now a desire to lose weight.

Surgical procedures and weight loss drugs are growing in popularity, with some influencers detailing their own slimming journeys, to both acclaim and criticism.

In her weight loss clinic in the capital, Dr Lyudmila Chtchoukina has a busy schedule.

It wasn’t always this way for the Nairobi Bariatric Center, which she and her late husband – both Ukrainians – founded thirty years ago.

At first, the establishment, which Chtchoukina proudly considers a pioneer of bariatric surgery in the country, received practically no clients.

But the clinic is now thriving, seeing 10 to 15 patients a day.

It’s a “boom”, the doctor told the BBC one evening at the end of her shift.

Societal pressures may be one reason for this change.

Kenyans on social media are not known for holding back and many people, both men and women, have been insultingly told, in the Kenyan phrase, “not fat!” » after photos of themselves were posted online.

When political activist Francis Gaitho complained about being cyberbullied because of his weight, several people responded by telling him to “not get fat.”

Chtchoukina says concerns about physical and mental health related to being overweight drive patients to come to her.

She sees patients with high blood pressure, infertility issues, diabetes, joint and back pain, while others are concerned about the overall quality of their lives.

Kenyans are now “discovering that obesity is not a sign of wealth, but a health issue,” Shchukina says.

Health officials here are increasingly concerned about the problem. In urban areas, just over half of women and a quarter of men were described as overweight or obese in a survey carried out in 2022. In rural areas, the equivalent figures were 39% and 14%.

However, aside from their health concerns, some Shchukina patients also seek to improve their appearance.

She says that at one time, being “plus size” was considered fashionable, but “now… fashion is [to be] thin, small… You can see how it changes.

Beauty expert Yvonne Kanyi says for women, the ‘pressure’ of the ‘hourglass’ [figure] and flat stomach” has always been there, even if access to medical procedures has not been the case.

Kanyi, who runs a skincare and cosmetics business and frequently speaks about beauty and entrepreneurship, says what has changed is celebrity culture which has now amplified the trend, “normalizing medical intervention as part of maintaining a certain image.”

Additionally, more women now feel empowered to make decisions about their bodies “without excuses”, she told the BBC.

One of them is Naomi Kuria, a popular content creator who underwent medical procedures to lose weight and improve her appearance – and is proud of the results.

The 27-year-old’s efforts to lose weight began in 2024.

She started by working out at the gym, but five months later she realized she wasn’t getting the results she expected. Instead, she had added more weight and suffered “severe pain” in her knees.

Alternatives have been suggested, including swimming or dieting. But she wanted faster results.

“How long will I really swim to lose a pound?” she asks. “So I explored other, faster ways to lose weight, and then I discovered Ozempic.” A fellow content creator told her about it and she sought medical advice.

Ozempic is one of several brands, including Mounjaro and Wegovy, that are now prescribed for long-term weight management.

It contains semaglutide, used in the treatment of diabetes.

The drug, given as an injection, targets hormones that determine how quickly the stomach empties and how full you feel, helping to regulate appetite.

Kuria says the vaccine helped her get closer to her ideal weight, losing 11 kg (10 pounds) in about a month and a half.

In Kenya, Ozempic is officially only available with a prescription. She says she spent 80,000 Kenyan shillings ($620; £465) on the drug.

Despite the side effect of “throwing up like crazy,” she felt great afterward “because every part of my body was really defined.”

However, Kuria wanted to go further and underwent a procedure called airsculpt, which is a type of liposuction designed to shape the body. This involved removing fat from his stomach and transferring it to his “skinny” legs.

She was criticized by her public for undergoing the procedure, which she said was because people “misjudged” her reasons.

Commenters asked why she decided to do it, saying she already had the “perfect body.”

Others questioned why she spent a total of 700,000 Kenyan shillings ($5,400; £4,000) to change her appearance.

“So you decided to compete with God,” one person said.

But Kuria says they were her “personal choices” and she’s happy with them, even if the barrage of “crazy reactions” affected her at first.

“I’m trendy and everyone is talking about me and not even a single person makes a positive comment.

“I got to a point where I was very angry, very angry with people. And I started responding to comments, and if you’re rude to me, I’m rude to you,” she told the BBC.

Ciru Muriuki, a 43-year-old content creator and journalist, also shared her weight loss experience.

To reduce his own weight, Muriuki first underwent a gastric balloon procedure, in which a silicone balloon is placed in the stomach, to limit its capacity and create a feeling of fullness. The balloon is usually removed after six months.

Despite the intervention, her health “was in all directions” at the beginning of 2024 following the death of her fiancé.

She said she quickly lost a lot of weight, “which wasn’t healthy,” and then started gaining weight again.

That’s when she sought weight loss advice from a medical professional.

She said it’s not about looking for a “series of shortcuts” to get what she wants.

“It’s never been like this,” she said, fully aware of the criticism often leveled at people seen as finding a quick way to lose weight.

Diet control and exercise have long been recommended as the best ways to manage weight.

But Dr Alvin Mondoh, a Kenyan weight management specialist, says “people still need help” through medical intervention because weight gain can be caused “by factors beyond your control”.

Still, he warns that there is growing concern about the use of weight-loss vaccines.

“Unfortunately, we’ve seen a growing trend recently of people using it for vanity reasons,” he says.

There are risks, especially if someone tries to avoid certified clinics and approved medications and gets something cheaper on an unregulated market.

At the Nairobi Bariatric Centre, which offers surgeries, weight-loss drugs and counselling, packages can cost up to $7,000 (£5,000), a sum well out of reach of most Kenyans.

Kuria admits that weight loss procedures are “very expensive”: she spent about $6,000 on both medication and airsculpt.

And she warns people to be aware of the consequences.

“You will be [also] pay the cost of recovery, which is not easy. You will pay the price of stigma, of the stigmatization of society. It’s a shortcut that’s never short,” she says.

However, she has no regrets.

Mondoh warns that some people’s desperation to lose weight can be exploited by scammers.

Last August, medicines regulator the Pharmacy and Poisons Board issued a public safety alert regarding the use of weight loss drugs.

“Semaglutide is a prescription-only medication and its unsupervised or off-label use can lead to serious health problems,” he said.

A fitness influencer has been warned to stop promoting where his followers could buy vaccines at a lower price.

But given the rising levels of obesity in Kenya, the demand for quick ways to lose weight is not going to go away.

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