61 % of all South Africans are
overweight, obese or morbildly obese!
Who would have thought this, as Africa is mostly mentioned in one breath with starvation, HIV and inhumane living conditions.
South Africans are getting fatter. We’re placed third in the
world obesity ranking according to Compass Group Southern Africa’s 2011 report,
and the first developing country on the list. We’re a game changer in the
global obesity epidemic, proof that fatness doesn't have to be a first world problem.
This has surprised me and will probably surprise you with no end. Compiling this blog actually gives me a lot of new insight into my chosen home country, a lost of surprising facts and a lot to think about and a lot of pleasure.
Some examples
The SA Institute of Race
Relations (SAIRR) recently reported that almost a third of black South African
women are obese, followed by coloured, white and Indian women, a quarter of
whom follow suit. Interestingly, 18 % of white South African men are obese, a
fact that tips the demographic scales of gender and race and their link to
obesity. While women are usually more inclined to be overweight, the alarming
percentage of obese white men in SA calls for further scrutiny, among others
into the beer and braaivleis culture.
Our ancestors’ hunter-gatherer instincts are long extinct.
Globalisation and the miraculous take-away has made us lazy, lulled by
knowledge that food is a mere phone call away and a microwave meal only a few
minutes from served. Rapid urbanisation sees people moving from rural areas in
search of inner-city thrills – and cuisine.
Last year, Alice Randall published an
article in The New York Times entitled ‘Black Women and Fat.’
‘Many black women are fat because we want to be, came the
punch-line, as readers in all six continents fell off their chairs. In fact,
the ideal of the large black woman is a plus for the men who love them, and who
want nothing more than for their wives to maintain their curvy physiques.
Our very own state president and some of his wives are the most distinguished example and living proof.
Unfortunately the people who are supposed to uphold the peace and prevent crime don't seem to be able perform these tasks and fail dismally, because they are too fat to move fast or move at all.
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| LEKKER SLAAP ALMAL! Sleep tight everybody! |
In SA, there’s a KFC in almost every suburb, selling buckets
of chicken dripping in batter and oil. Samoosas, vetkoek and fried chicken, all
Mzansi delicacies, all high in saturated fat, add to our nation’s expanding
waistline. Children snack on Nik-Naks on their way home from school. Parents,
themselves with little understanding of the value of nutrition, are unable to
pass information on to their children.
More
alarmingly, South Africa is home to a population of health denialists.
The SAIRR study showed a scant understanding of healthy
eating habits. Most considered themselves healthy, completely unaware of the
repercussions facing them in later years in the form of heart attacks and
strokes. Only 47% recognised the critical importance of physical exercise and
unsurprisingly, healthy foods were perceived to be more expensive than their
unhealthy counterparts.
The WHO suggests that healthy indigenous foods be promoted
as they tend to be cheaper and more culturally acceptable than new foods. This
is true for traditional Chinese cuisine, for example, a welcome departure from
the less healthy, more commercial ‘western’ style options. However, in the
South African instance, traditional fare has become hybridized thanks to the
introduction of westernised crops. The old food ways, negatively associated
with poverty and social lowliness, are abandoned for higher-status junk food.
Traditional African staples of starch, sugar and meat
certainly aren't conducive with a low-calorie diet. I don’t want to imply that
traditional food is harmful or devoid of nutritional value; however, the
statistics show that it’s not sustainable as an exclusive source of nutrition.
We need to talk about obesity. We need to understand why so
many of us are fat, to re-evaluate what we’re eating and why we’re eating it.
The implementation of awareness programmes in schools and communities,
widespread dietary education and healthy eating plans and workshops to promote
healthy cooking methods are crucial. As for the availability of unhealthy food
and drink in public places like airports, train stations, university campuses,
schools and hospitals, it’s time to cut down.
Obesity is an urban pandemic and public health issue that
has complex roots in culture, economic status and education. Our junk food
nation is a noxious blend of apathy, calories and bad habits, the product of a
fickle eating culture. The sooner we can come to a common understanding of what
a healthy diet actually means, the quicker we can break our nation’s harmful
eating.
Guardian, Thursday 9 September 2010
17.11 BST
Despites its image as a nation that loves sport, a survey
has found that 61% of South Africans are overweight. Photographs: Philipp Guelland/AFP/Getty
Images
It is renowned for surfing, rugby and the great outdoors,
but South Africa is among the fattest countries in the world, another survey
has found as well.
The rainbow nation is "eating itself slowly to
death", according to the drug and healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline
(GSK), which says 61% of South Africans are overweight, obese or morbidly
obese.
Article on
CNN website:
Gugulethu,
South Africa (CNN) --
In restaurants in this township outside Cape Town, South Africa, barbecue
grills crackle with chains of sausage, marinated chicken quarters and
boulder-sized slabs of beef and lamb.
Organ meats
-- livers, lungs and hearts -- are sold in bustling marketplaces.
In the city,
customers order fried chicken, meat pies, biltong (air dried, spiced meat
strips)), French fries, sausages called boerewors and burgers, a combination of
Western and South African fast foods.
Along with
growing prosperity, a culture of high-fat foods has taken hold in urban South
Africa. In a country where malnutrition is one of the major causes of
children's deaths, South Africa is also experiencing an increase in obesity-related
conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.
The country
has enjoyed economic growth in recent years . But growth also comes with risks.
"We're
in transition from poverty to economic development," said Dr. Thandi Puoane,
associate professor at the University of the Western Cape School of Public
Health.
The influx
of people to urban areas has caused major dietary shifts that are more starchy,
sugary, fatty and salty and feature bigger portions, according to South African
research.
In
townships, predominantly black communities located outside cities, being
overweight does not carry negative connotations.
"Black
South African women are not keen on weight loss, because in this era, people
think you are thin, you have HIV -- that's the thinking," said Tandi
Matoti-Mvalo, a dietitian.
And health
experts worry that many people aren't receiving messages about proper diet and
exercise.
"Because
of the advertisements, people drink Coke and eat KFC and think it's hip and
cool," Puoane said. "I haven't seen advertisements for broccoli and
beans.
Black
African people have the lowest rates of cardiovascular diseases, but there are
some concerns about changing diets and habits.
"People
in the townships, they feel they need to have meat on the plate daily,"
said Puoane. "They end up eating chicken fat and skin, they want that
taste. People really, really want to have meat on their plate."
It's a
departure from maize, porridge and beans.
Tembela
Mawela holds a platter of meat from Mzoli's, a restaurant and butcher shop.
At Mzoli's,
a popular braai (barbecue) spot, Tembela Maweka, who lives in Kuils River, near
Cape Town, waited for his platter of meat.
"When
you have beers or whiskey, you have to have meat," he said. "You need
that fat."
When asked
whether he worried about the health implications of a high-fat diet, he paused.
"It
might make effects in the body, like in the heart because of fat," Maweka
said.
His remedy:
"You eat, and drink and exercise."
A few miles
away from the restaurant, traders in an outdoor marketplace sell organ meats
such as stomachs and lungs. These have higher fat content but are more
affordable, said Matoti-Mvalo.
Much like
food deserts, described in American urban settings, residents of these areas
face a vicious combination of the lack of money and access to nutritious foods.
"They
cannot afford healthy food," Puoane said. "They cannot afford chicken
breast. They end up buying chicken skins." Chicken breasts are stripped to
be sold in affluent markets, and the discarded skins are sold in the townships,
she said.
"Accessibility
to fresh fruit and vegetables is a little bit difficult," Puoane said.
"People have to spend money to get to a minibus taxi, go to the
supermarket to buy healthy food. There's less accessibility to healthy
food."
Dumile Klaas
and Zandise Mtzang enjoy an afternoon snack in Gugulethu, near Cape Town.
On a
mid-afternoon in Gugulethu, three men grabbed a snack at a food stand.
With a knife,
they carefully sliced the meat from sheep legs, salted it and then wrapped it
in bread. The platter for three with a bottle of Coca Cola cost about $6.
When asked
whether they ever worried about their diet and health, they smiled.
"We
might get a heart attack," Dumile Klaas joked.
"This
is meat, and we like it," said Zandise Mtzang with a shrug. "Do you
smoke? Well, that's dangerous, but people still smoke."
Gesturing to
what was once a pile of meat, he said "It's the same”
So, what
really seems to be happening in South Africa 2013: the poorer you are, the
fatter you get and the richer you are, the fatter you get too.
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