October sees National Obesity Week in an effort to educate South Africans about the massive proportions this problem is reaching.
South Africa has the highest overweight and obesity rate in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a recent study released in The Lancet, one of the leading UK medical journals.
In 2013, South Africa had an obesity rate of 42 percent for women and 13.5 percent for men.
Childhood obesity has caused an alarming stir worldwide, as it has been on the rise over the past few years. This survey suggests that 10 percent of children under the age of two, and 20 percent of children under the age of six, are overweight.
What is the cause of this ‘epidemic’?
Obesity not only means that you have increased in weight size, but many other health risks are involved.
With the crazy and stressful working lifestyle that many have now become accustomed to, healthy eating has been thrown out the window.
Many parents have stopped taking the effort in preparing nutritious meals or even packing a wholesome, yet tasty, lunch that their children can benefit from.
The little changes that you make now, can have a huge impact on your children’s lives at a later stage.
How do you know if you or your child is obese? By calculating your Body Mass Index, you can start to find solutions, as well as measure your waistline.
Body Mass Index (BMI) is a simple index of weight-for-height that is commonly used to classify underweight, overweight and obesity in adults.
It is defined as the weight in kilogrammes divided by the square of the height in metres (kg/m2). Individuals with a BMI between 25 and 29.9 are considered to be overweight, and if your BMI is 30 or higher, then you are obese. If it is above 35, then you are considered to be morbidly obese.
If your BMI is above the healthy norm, you need to re-visit your lifestyle and drastically change your eating and exercise habits as this will increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes.
For an individual to break this vicious and harmful cycle, it is important that people are taught to lead a healthy lifestyle in terms of eating and exercising habits.
Consider starting a diet lifestyle programme that will help you reach your weight goals in a healthy manner. A diet lifestyle programme that is guaranteed to lower your weight, as well as the risk of diabetes and heart disease, together with an exercise programme will result in a healthy and happy family.
Last year, during National Obesity Week from October 15 to 19, The Diet Everyone Talks About launched ‘National Diet Day’ across South Africa.
October 19, 2013, saw clinics across the nation hosting various displays and information gathering opportunities for the general public.
It was a call to the public to understand the dangers of obesity, to be educated on the difference between being overweight and being obese and to come to terms with the fact that our country is in trouble and we need to do something to curb this weight epidemic.
