SA has 'major obesity problem'

2005-05-30 13:47

Johannesburg - Obesity is a great public health problem, with 23% of men and 57% of women over being overweight, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Monday.

Physical inactivity and unhealthy eating were the cause of obesity, the minister said in a media statement.

Seventeen percent of adolescents were found to be overweight in the Youth Risk Behaviour Survey conducted in public schools in 2002, with 25 percent of South African adolescents watching television for more than three hours a day.

Girls were found to be at a greater risk for physical inactivity than boys.

The department highlighted these concerns at National Move for Health Day activities in Alexandra, Johannesburg.

The campaign encourages good nutrition, regular physical activity, combating misuse of alcohol, tobacco control, and safe sexual behaviour.

Mass physical activity

The campaign has been launched in seven provinces already with the department ensuring that physical activity is a big component of the programme.

"Our strategy is to promote mass participation in physical activity. We have mobilised children, the youth, adults, the aged and people with disabilities to participate in physical activity of any kind," Tshabalala-Msimang said.

Health workers would target people at risk including those who are overweight or have a history of such diseases as diabetes or hypertension in their families, as these were the most common problems in all communities visited.

The main risk factors for these diseases were being overweight and physical inactivity.

- SAPA