As a young person growing up, what actually
caught my fancy and whipped my appetite was when woman gave birth in our
household. It was normally accompanied with salivating dishes most especially
fufu spiced with soup silted with all kinds of meat, "wele", crabs, fish etc and sometimes slightly red plantain
mashed and drenched in oil, grilled groundnut and eggs (3to)
This was usually the best time for
some of us to pregnant our bellies with sumptuous meals, a rare delicacy.
A woman shortly after giving birth was always expected to look plump and slightly obese
to show how her husband had been responsible. Some ladies whom for some reasons might not put on weight right after giving birth would usually indulge in taking weight enhancing medicines such as "paratin". A woman attending postpartum care forty days after delivering her baby, commonly referred to as “attending maternity” normally attracted sneers and scorn from gossip-monger if she looked emaciated or scrawny. This was to register their disgust that her husband had been irresponsible.
In the good old days, an Ashanti man description of a Fante woman
or a Ga woman would not be complete without complimenting on her “busy body” or her
plump-looking shape, and a man with protruding
stomach or pot belly was revered as a rich person or someone who lived a good life
and many women would yearn to have such a person for a husband, but today most ladies would crave for guys with so-called "six-pack".
This phenomenon has now taken a nose dive and models, celebrities and many women from all class now prefer to look slender and skinny just to be in tune with the fashion world. Many women now use both proper and crude ways just to look slender including the use of tight-lacing corset.
It is indisputable fact that overweight and
obesity may increase the risk of many health problems including cancer,
diabetes, heart diseases and hypertension. This fact sheet tells us more about
the link between excess weight and many health conditions as well as explain
how reaching and maintaining a normal weight may help you to stay healthier.
In this light, proper ways must be adopted to reduce weight through
engaging in weight-shedding exercise including going to the gym, engaging in more
physical activities and engaging in sports.
Sadly, in the desperate attempt look more
slender and sexy-looking, many women do not only starve their stomachs but
also use tight-lacing corset to make their tummies’ look slender and flat
oblivious of the dangerous effects of prolonged use of tight-lacing corset. (Corset is a garment
worn to hold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical
purpose). Attending my first pool party for the semester dawned on me that some ladies smile in pain because they want to look cute and sexy.
According to medical professionals, the
heart is damaged by corset. If a person shrinks the size of his or her rib
cage significantly, it is believed that it can leave little space for the
heart, thus leading to inevitable palpitations.
The constriction of the corset, if too
tight, prevents the lower lobes of the lungs from fully expanding when taking a
breath. This puts extra strain on the lungs and causes additional work for the
lower lobes of the lungs.
It is also argued that with a tight-laced
corset, the stomach would not be able to churn correctly, making it difficult
to digest food completely.
The liver also experiences many
complications while the body is tight-laced, becoming severed due to the
location of the ribs as a result of the tight lacing, and that the liver would
become enlarged or displaced.
Not only that, the uterus is believed to
suffer the most from tight-lacing, failing to develop properly due to the
inactivity of the abdominal muscles or becoming prolapsed.
It worth noting that the use of tight-lacing corset for
prolonged period may give you that stylish and sexy looking but also has the
propensity to cost your life.
Writer: Abdul-Karim Mohammed Awaf
University of Cape Coast
Abdulkarimmohammedawaf.blogspot.com.
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