This may be a very popular conversation among many South Africans, and it is not at all surprising. With fast food outlets on street corners, in shopping malls, next to big streets and at most sport events, one can expect nothing less than a quick meal, whether healthy or not, on the way to work or class. But why not? Most fast food outlets are relatively cheap, the food is ready to eat and one doesn’t have to wait long… They aren’t called FAST FOOD outlets for nothing.
There is, however, one concern and that is obesity. Food is not the only contributing factor- one must remember that lifestyle, poverty and demographics also play a big role. According to an article published in The Guardian in 2009, a survey has found that South Africa is among the fattest countries in the world. The drug and healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) stated in the article that SA is eating itself slowly to death with 61% of South Africans being overweight, obese or morbidly obese. Those statistics are already three years old!
Recently, statistics show that 66% of women and 33% of men in SA are overweight and between 10% of men and 28% of women are morbidly obese. An article published on Health24 declares that obesity in SA “has reached epidemic proportions and is having a serious impact on the health of the nation.” This is said by internationally acknowledged obesity expert and the Director of the Centres of Excellence for Metabolic Medicine and Sugery of SA, Prof Tessa van der Merwe. She adds that obesity can cause serious conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, depression and the list continues.
Thus, it is very important to try to prevent one from becoming overweight or obese. Create a balance between the food you eat and the physical activity- combine healthy eating with enough physical activity to keep your body in balance. Other simple tips include taking the stairs instead of the lift, limiting or eliminating tobacco, drug and alcohol use and not to depend on so called “crash diets.” Rather change your lifestyle and insure a healthy weight which will be beneficial in the long term… even if it means ordering a salad instead of a Big Mac.
