Shocking struggle with weight
2007-10-18
ALTHOUGH it is far less likely to make tabloid headlines than a celebrity’s sudden weight gain, South Africa has a weight problem.
About 45% of South Africans are overweight, and almost half of this number falls into the category of obesity.
From 15 to 19 October is Obesity Week, to highlight the chronic illness that is obesity.
Obesity can result from a number of factors, from genetics and chemical imbalances to unhealthy lifestyle choices.
In South Africa the rapid increase of obesity is mostly attributable to unhealthy food and lifestyle choices linked to rapid urbanisation.
Urban-dwellers tend to eat more high fat, high sugar, energy dense, low fibre foods than human body needs.
The reasons for this are related both to cost and to convenience, for many urban-dwelling South Africans it is cheaper, easier and quicker to grab some unhealthy convenience food than to take the time to prepare a nutritious and healthy meal.
Furthermore, as we lead increasingly sedentary lives, in front of the computer or in the car all day, and in front of the TV in the evening, our lack of exercise compounds the problem.
For more information about The Diet Everyone Talks About, call 0881 26 26 99.
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