A Personal Conversation on Obesity, Stigma, and Public Health in Africa

Stowelink Foundation founder Ogweno Stephen recently joined the Africa Health Pulse podcast hosted by Faith Okwisa for an honest and emotional conversation about living with obesity, navigating stigma, and why Africa must begin treating obesity as a serious public health issue rather than a personal weakness.

The discussion offered a rare and deeply human perspective into the lived realities behind obesity, especially within African communities where conversations around weight are often shaped by shame, stereotypes, and misunderstanding.

Growing Up Feeling Different

During the podcast, Ogweno Stephen reflected on growing up with obesity from a young age and how early experiences shaped both his confidence and his understanding of health.

He spoke about becoming aware that his body looked different from many of his peers while still in primary school. Beyond appearance, he described the emotional weight that often came with those experiences, including feelings of isolation, judgment, and pressure to constantly explain or defend his body.

Over the years, obesity also affected his physical health, contributing to complications including gastrointestinal reflux disease and oral health challenges. Like many people living with obesity, he experienced cycles of restrictive diets, intense exercise routines, sports training, and constant attempts to “fix” himself before eventually understanding that obesity is far more complex than public narratives often suggest.

Challenging Harmful Narratives Around Obesity

One of the strongest themes from the discussion was the need to change how obesity is understood across Africa.

According to Ogweno Stephen, many people living with obesity are blamed before they are supported. Conversations are often reduced to oversimplified advice while ignoring the realities of genetics, mental health, food systems, stress, income inequality, urbanization, trauma, healthcare access, and environmental influences.

He explained that obesity should be recognized as a chronic disease that requires long-term, evidence-based support and compassionate care.

For Stowelink Foundation, this conversation is not only about treatment. It is also about dignity.

How Lived Experience Shaped Stowelink’s Work

The experiences shared on the podcast have directly influenced the direction of Stowelink Foundation’s work over the years.

As an organization, Stowelink has increasingly focused on non-communicable disease prevention, digital health innovation, youth engagement, and health literacy across Africa. Through campaigns, research, digital tools, and advocacy, the organization continues to push for more inclusive and people-centered conversations around obesity and chronic disease.

This growing commitment has also informed the development of Beyond the Scale Africa, Stowelink’s new obesity advocacy and education initiative focused on reducing stigma, strengthening treatment literacy, amplifying lived experience voices, and supporting healthier communities across the continent.

The organization believes that people living with obesity should not only be included in public health conversations, but should help lead them.

Why Storytelling Matters in Public Health

The Africa Health Pulse conversation also highlighted the importance of storytelling in health advocacy.

For many people, hearing someone speak openly about obesity, shame, healthcare struggles, and self-worth creates space for empathy and understanding that statistics alone cannot achieve.

At Stowelink, lived experience is viewed as expertise. Stories have the power to challenge stigma, influence policy conversations, encourage earlier healthcare seeking, and help others feel less alone.

Obesity in Africa Can No Longer Be Ignored

Across Africa, obesity and related non-communicable diseases continue to rise rapidly, particularly among young people living in urban and peri-urban environments. Yet obesity remains heavily stigmatized and poorly integrated into many national health priorities.

Stowelink Foundation believes the response must move beyond blame toward systems that support prevention, equitable care, healthier environments, mental wellbeing, and compassionate healthcare delivery.

The organization continues to advocate for a future where obesity is treated with the same seriousness, empathy, and policy attention given to other chronic diseases.

Watch the Full Podcast Episode

The full Africa Health Pulse episode featuring Ogweno Stephen is available on YouTube.

Watch the Full Podcast Episode

Final Reflection

For Ogweno Stephen, obesity advocacy is deeply personal.

It is about more than healthcare systems or policy frameworks. It is about creating a world where people are treated with dignity regardless of body size, where young people do not grow up carrying shame in silence, and where lived experiences help shape the future of public health in Africa.