This week has officially been marked by the Department of Basic Education as National Nutrition Week.
According to the department, the week aims to encourage children to eat the correct sizes of food through the theme ‘Choose Your Portion with Caution’.
“While the education of pupils on the importance of nutrition is part of the school curriculum, the National Nutrition Week is a period that will be used to increase awareness and support of nutrition education.
“It will also be used as an opportunity to create the advances made by the government to provide daily healthy meals to pupils in need,” the department says.
According to the Nutrition Society of South Africa, statistics show that increasing numbers of South Africans are overweight or obese, with the problem at its worst among adult women and preschool children.
The society says that over 40 percent of adult women are classified as obese and obesity in adult women has increased in the last decade from 27,5 percent to 40 percent.
In the age group two to five years, 18,9 percent of girls and 17,5 percent of boys are classified as overweight.
Over the past decade, the commonness of overweight preschool boys and girls has risen sharply from 10,6 percent to 18,2 percent which according to the chief director of Health Promotion and Nutrition Lynn Moeng at the Department of Health is an issue which cannot be ignored.
“People are eating too much and they’re eating the wrong foods,” she said.
“By educating them about portion size and choices, we aim to change attitudes and habits so that people ‘downsize’ and reduce their health risk.”
