Obesity in South Africa has hit epidemic proportions. But while the science is clear about the extent of our expanding waist lines, it is not as easy to quantify the why. Where lies the responsibility of the individual when we grow, learn and age in a “toxic” food environment? Fast food outlets are known villains but a growing body of evidence is questioning the role played by the seemingly innocuous supermarket in creating a super-sized South Africa. By Amy Green for HEALTH-E NEWS.
South African women are one of the most severely obese populations in the world, ranking ninth out of 186 countries in 2014, according to a study published in the medical journal the Lancet in April. Local women account for 2.7% of all the obese women on the planet.
And it’s not only adults who are tipping the scales. The World Obesity Federation estimates that just over 8% of the nation’s five- to 18-year-olds are obese. By 2025 they predict more than one in 10 kids will be classified as obese.
“It’s not a debate – it’s a shocking reality,” says Professor Tess van der Merwe, president of the South African Society for Surgery, Obesity and Metabolism.
She says that high body weight predisposes one to developing a host of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. And rates of these illnesses, which historically occur later in life, are escalating in the nation’s children.
But what, or who, is to blame? For the full article click here
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