Overweight and obesity are also important risk factors for CVD [28,29]. In urban West
Africa, the prevalence of obesity more than doubled from 7.0% in 1990–94 to 15.0% in 2000–
04 [30], despite the continued burden of undernutrition [31]. The co-existence ofproblems of
excess weight combined with those ofunderweight–a condition termed the ‘double burden’
[32]–well illustrates the difficulties produced by the nutrition transition in SSA. To date, a single study has been carried out in Dakar on weight problems among the general adult population, indicating that in 2009, in terms ofbody mass index (BMI), the prevalence of
underweight, overweight and general obesity were 12.3%, 22.3% and 8.3%, respectively,
whereas the prevalence ofcentral obesity was 21.2% using waist circumference (WC) [33].