Achieving fitness is easier said than done. It is not easy in America with the love for machines to do everything from washing plates, laundering your clothes, drying and ironing them to sweeping the floors. Those activities that cannot be done by the machines are performed by Mexican illegal immigrants except making love to your wife
. In Nigeria, the proliferation of fast food joints is the main reason for the love handles, thick necks, pot bellies and shorter legs you notice these days on people. Do not forget also that being fat in Nigeria is still associated with 'prosperity'.
Most families now rely on the Mr Biggs, Chicken Lovers, Tantalizer, Super Foods, Sweet Sensation and Mama Cass just to mention a few for their sustenance instead of cooking real foods. Children are given meat pies and soft drinks for lunch while they eat doughnuts for breakfast and will probably have rice and chicken cooked with tons of monosodium glutamate for dinner, bought from the fast food joints of course. Gone are also the days when primary schools are places where you play football and run around during break periods. Now the children are made to sit in classes and watch 'Shrek' instead of running around and getting fit.
Personal hygiene is not only a mark of respect for ones' body but also for your neighbours and friends. Imagine how difficult it is to tell your friend or neighbour who has come to your apartment to greet you as a gesture of goodwil that his mouth is smelly or that the stink from his armpits is suffocating you? Most of the problems we complain about these days (Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, dizziness) are self-inflicted as a result of the lifestyles we have consciously adopted to show people we have arrived.
I agree with you that the earlier we start hitting the gym, the better for all of us. Thanks a million for this article.