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South Africans are battling the bulge
– Reported, May 27, 2013
Did you know that South Africa is one of the top three countries in the world in obesity rankings? Were in third place just after the US and the UK. And it gets worse! A recent survey, conducted by the SA Medical Research Council, found that 61% of the South Africans are overweight, obese or morbidly obese! In addition, 70% of all South African women over the age of 35 were overweight or obese! According to the findings, 33% of black women were exposed to the greatest risk and a quarter of coloured, white and Indian women following suit.
There are numerous reasons why the South African obesity statistics look so dire. One of the biggest scapegoats seems to be the increasing urbanisation of the South African population, resulting in people living a more sedentary lifestyle and an increase in the consumption of fast food. Added to that, South Africans alcohol consumption is amongst the highest in the world!
Further, 49% of South Africans claim to do no exercise and 71% have never attempted to cut down on their food intake. Worse still, 78% of obese and 52% of morbidly obese South Africans believe they are perfectly healthy and only 47% of South Africans believe that exercise and fitness are critical to good health! The good news is that, in most instances one can lose weight and prevent the non-communicable diseases related with obesity through dietary and lifestyle changes.
To mark International Self-Care Day on 24 July, SMASA, an independent organisation committed to promoting responsible self-care and self-medication to the South African public, challenges South Africans with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 and higher to help reduce their risk by losing weight through staying active and making smart food choices.
Its the ideal opportunity to take care of your and your familys health by giving your health and your medicine cabinet a health check, says Allison Vienings, SMASA executive director. She says people with a BMI of 25 and higher need to take obesity very seriously because of the number of diseases associated with it including hypertension (raised blood pressure), hyperlipidaemia (high cholesterol levels), Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and various forms of cancer. SMASA advocates that the key to health and wellbeing means being vigilant about making healthy lifestyle choices.
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