South Africans pile on weight during pandemic and 69% border on obesity, survey shows
The survey found that 42 percent of respondents were exercising less than before the Covid-19 pandemic, while 59 percent were currently on medication for a co-morbidity such as heart disease, diabetes or hypertension.
JOHANNESBURG, May 3 (ANA) – The lockdown South Africa’s government first imposed more than a year ago to try and contain the spread of Covid-19 has had the unintended consequence of a plumper population, a survey released on Monday shows.
In the survey of almost 2,000 South African adults commissioned by pharmaceutical company Pharma Dynamics, 45 percent of respondents said lockdown regulations impacted their eating and exercise habits for the worse, with 44 percent picking up between 2-5 kg while 15 percent gained 6-10 kg and four percent gained an extra 10 kgs or more.
Pharma Dynamics, the largest provider of cardiovascular medicine in the country, commissioned the survey to assess the effect of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown on the nation’s eating and exercise patterns.
“Treats and calories are up, while exercise is down, which is never a healthy combination,” spokeswoman Nicole Jennings said in a statement accompanying the report.
“Limited access to daily grocery shopping may have led to reduced consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables in favour of highly processed food. In times of stress and uncertainty, people also find solace in comfort food, which tends to be low in nutritional value and high in carbohydrates, fats, salt and sugar.”
Some 34 percent of respondents said their diet consisted mainly of takeout and ready-made meals, while a further 30 percent said they ate what they could afford since their income had been impacted during the Covid-19 crisis.
The survey found that 42 percent of respondents were exercising less than before the pandemic, while 59 percent were on medication for a co-morbidity such as heart disease, diabetes or hypertension.
Forty-three percent attributed their change in eating habits to stress and anxiety over what the future holds, while 42 percent said being confined to their homes also led to more snacking and impulsive eating and 28 percent simply ate out of boredom.
South Africa’s jump in weight the last 12 months significantly increases the population’s risk of hypertension, which already stood at 35 percent before the coronavirus pandemic, the report said.
Participants’ body mass index, a measure of weight compared to height, indicated that 69 percent of respondents ranged between overweight and obese.
“Female obesity rates align with previous data collected in 2019 by another health provider, but men seem to have really struggled with their weight during the pandemic,” said Jennings.
“Based on our survey, obesity rates among men climbed by 40 percent.”
The lockdown has also expanded children’s waistlines, with interrupted schooling and extra-curricular activities leading to 43 percent more screen time among that section of the population.
A separate national health and nutrition survey shows a combined overweight and obesity prevalence of 13.5 percent in children between 6-14 years of age in South Africa, about 10 percent above the global rate.
Pharma Dynamics said it released the results of its poll in early May to coincide with “Measurement Month” – an initiative led by the International Society of Hypertension to raise worldwide awareness around the dangers associated with high blood pressure.
– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa