A rise in adult obesity levels in the East Africa’s urban centres are taking a toll on efforts to tackle malnutrition, while undernourishment rates also remain a major concern. Recent regional estimates by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) show figures for adult overweight rates for most countries in the region range between 15 and 35 per cent. This means that one in four out of every 10 adults in the region is either overweight or obese. “This is an emerging nutrition challenge and it’s starting to become a major concern especially in urban centres. Obesity comes with the risk of cardio-vascular diseases like blood pressure, heart problems among others,” said head of FAO’s sub-regional resilience team for East Africa Angela Kimani at a conference in Kigali. Experts cite the rapid urbanisation taking place in the continent and its associated nutritional transition as being the drivers of rising obesity in the region where figures show that undernourishment levels generally rose in the past decade.