Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: European explorers

  • A tribe’s fattening culture and its impact on health

    Victor John EtukDaura, Nigeria When nineteenth century European explorers began to colonize West Africa, they were shocked by the corpulence of the Efik people of the Nigerian coast—over seventy percent of the population weighed more than ninety kilograms.1,2 Little did the Europeans know that fattening rituals took place behind closed doors, which largely contributed to…