Kenyan men are increasingly becoming aware of their own bodies and treating themselves well, a report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has revealed.
Findings from the report titled Kenya Time Use Survey released on Wednesday indicated that men spend 710 minutes per day on self-care and maintenance.
In comparison, women spent five minutes less on self-care activities, an equivalent of 11 hours and 45 minutes.
The self-care activities include observing dietary needs, grooming, engaging in exercises, going for a walk, and observing good sleep among others.
Traditionally, caring about self-care activities was a preserve of women who were known to spend a generous amount of time in the make-up chair to groom themselves before leaving the house.
The report further showed that men spend 103 minutes, 13 minutes more than women in socialising, communication, community participation, and religious activities.
Men are also inquisitive since they spend 56 minutes on learning as compared to 44 minutes for women.
Women, however, spent more time on unpaid domestic services for household and family members at 242 minutes (equivalent to 4 hours 30 minutes).
Men, on the other hand, only spent 49 minutes on the same task.
"County analysis shows that Marsabit county recorded the highest proportion of time spent per day on unpaid domestic and care work by women/girls aged 15+ years (30.2 %- about 7 hours 12 minutes per day, which is approximately 2.5 times higher than the national average (12.2%- about 2 hours 54 minutes)," read the findings in part.
"Other counties where women/girls aged 15+ years spend a high proportion of time per day on unpaid care and domestic work are Wajir, Samburu, Mandera, and Garissa."
KNBS, as a result, intends to develop a care policy as well as a Household Satellite Account to measure the contribution of unpaid domestic and care work to the Country’s Gross Domestic Product.
