Thursday 13 October, 2016 - 9:46
If obesity in South African children continues to increase at the current rate, 3.91 million school children will be overweight or obese by 2025. On world Obesity Day, the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa (HSF), together with the World Obesity Federation, calls for decisive action from government, private sector and parents.
Tuesday 10 March, 2015 - 11:45
New guidelines from the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommend people of all ages reduce ‘free sugar' intake to less than 10 percent of daily energy intakes and warn of the health risks of hidden sweeteners.
WHO director of Department of Nutrition for Health and Development, Francesco Branca, points out that, "We have solid evidence that keeping intake of free sugars to less than 10 percent of total energy intake reduces the risk of overweight, obesity and tooth decay."
Thursday 16 October, 2014 - 11:37
The Heart and Stroke Foundation (HSF) says 50 percent of South Africans are grappling with obesity.
As National Obesity Week begins, the organisation will intensify awareness about health risks associated with obesity, which could lead to diabetes, heart disease, stroke, hypertension and even cancer.
Wednesday 23 November, 2016 - 12:33
Chilean authorities are suing the giant breakfast cereal-makers Nestle and Kellogg’s for putting children's cartoon characters on packets of fattening food in breach of an anti-obesity law, officials said on Tuesday.
The government's National Consumer Service said in a statement it had filed a suit against the two companies plus Masterfoods, distributor of M&M chocolates, under June's “Food Labelling Law”.
It accuses the companies of breaching the law by “using children's characters on packets of various products classed as 'high in’ certain unhealthy ingredients”.
Thursday 14 April, 2016 - 12:41
Schoolchildren who receive a nutritious lunchtime meal are less likely to be overweight or suffer from childhood obesity. And those who receive both breakfast and lunch are three times less likely to suffer this fate.
Tackling childhood obesity is important because it may result in adult obesity and these children developing non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease later in life.
Tuesday 24 November, 2015 - 14:44
Professor Shane Norris from the University of the Witwatersrand’s Developmental Pathways for Health Unit has launched Action: the Africa Centre for Obesity Prevention.
The centre, which will provide information and research on the growing obesity epidemic across Africa, aims to communicate to the public how to lose weight‚ stay healthy and combat the confusion that reigns around what to eat and what not to eat.
Norris explained that it was tricky to shed kilos and keep them off because the body is programmed to keep weight on or return to the person’s higher weight.
Tuesday 29 September, 2015 - 12:50
Europe has the world's highest rates of drinking and smoking, and more than half its people are too fat, putting them at high risk of heart disease, cancer and other deadly illnesses.
In a report on health in its European Region, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says that while many countries had reduced risk factors for premature death, rates of obesity, tobacco use and alcohol consumption ‘remain alarmingly high’.
Friday 11 October, 2013 - 14:25
Most people are outraged by the recent reports of Northern Cape Premier Sylvia Lucas spending over R53 000 on food - the majority being fast foods - over a 10 week period. Although this is a gross misuse of the taxpayer’s money, the example it sets is even more devastating!
Friday 23 September, 2011 - 10:57
The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) has warned that obese people now outnumber the hungry globally, but hardship for the undernourished is increasing amid a growing food crisis.
In press statement, the organisation’s secretary-general, Bekele Geleta, points out that, "If the free interplay of market forces has produced an outcome where 15 percent of humanity are hungry while 20 percent are overweight, something has gone wrong somewhere."
