The Heart and Stroke Foundation of South Africa (HSFSA) says overweight or obese children have an increased risk of developing heart diseases earlier in life and are more likely to remain obese throughout their adult life.
The foundation plays a leading role in the fight against preventable heart diseases and strokes; with the aim of seeing fewer South Africans suffer premature deaths and disabilities.
Although obesity is a global problem, in South Africa only, overweight has increased from 10,6 per cent to 18,2 per cent in children aged two to five the past decade. Being overweight or obese increases one’s risk of heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes and certain cancers.
Not only does it have far-reaching health effects for a child, but vast social and economic implications. These can include bullying, teasing and low self-esteem, as well as increased health-care costs and loss of income later in life.
The country further carries a double burden of malnutrition with not only rising rates of childhood obesity but also still high prevalence of child malnutrition. This places a child at especially high risk for developing obesity, which then promotes the vicious cycle which we are grappling with in the current socio-economic environment.
According to Dr Vash Mungal-Singh, CEO of the HSFSA, poverty, unhealthy diets and physical inactivity are largely to blame for obesity among children.
“Our children are being brought up in an obesogenic environment where unhealthy foods are aggressively marketed to them, time in front of computers and televisions are increasing and appropriate environments for children to be active, safely, are few and far between.”
He also mentioned that urbanisation has also made an increase in the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, nutrient poor foods and lower consumption of fruit and vegetables.
Dr Mungal-Singh also said poor feeding practices in a child’s early life further exacerbated the problem. “Studies have shown that there is a link between low birth weight and overweight later in life due to overfeeding as an infant,” he said.
Poverty has an overarching impact within this context. Lower-income groups tend to have higher obesity rates as they opt for foods that are cheap and the most filling, which often means high in energy, fat, sugar and salt with very little other nutritional value.
The pregnant mother and young child are most affected. It is clear that obesity is in fact a very complex problem that requires a multi-pronged approach. HSFSA has the support of the National Department of Health in tackling this epidemic with a clear strategy and bold target to decrease the prevalence of obesity by 10 per cent by 2020.
