Your weight affects the quality of healthcare you receive

GEORGE NEWS - The series was inspired by her own experience and she hopes that people will realise that their health is in their hands.

"As a Type 1 diabetic myself, I have seen over the years how medical education empowers people and results in fantastic health outcomes. By taking my health seriously I have been able to live with this condition for 18 years without any complications. The same goes for the other auto-immune conditions I have. Health is priceless. Invest in yourself."

Pretorius says there is an important role for medication, but the basic things like healthy food and exercise remain key to prevention, and even after diagnosis. This includes laughter.

Your weight affects the quality of healthcare you receive

Malnutrition in Africa is well known, but the dual epidemic of obesity and malnutrition is less known. Malnutrition is found in up to 27% of children, with no improvement in the statistics over the past 20 years.

Obese and overweight children account for 13% of the Western Cape population. 62.2% of women and 25.1% of men have been found to be overweight and obese in the Western Cape according to recent statistics.

How is weight classified?

Weight is classified according to the body mass index (BMI). It is calculated by dividing your weight in kilogrammes (kg) by your height squared in centimetres (cm). The results are classified as follows: 18.5-24 kg/cm² is normal, <18.5 kg/cm² is underweight, 24.5-30 kg/cm² is overweight and an index of > 30 kg/cm² indicates obesity.

Obesity in children is classified based on a weight for age bases.

Why is obesity a health risk?

Being overweight or obese increases your risk for many medical conditions such as high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, cancer, and mental health conditions. Obesity increases your risks for complications of these conditions, including heart attacks and strokes. It also generally increases your mortality risk.

Does being obese increase your risk of contracting COVID-19?

Yes. According to the Centre for Disease, Control, and Prevention (CDC), obesity weakens your immune system, putting you at greater risk of contracting the COVID-19 virus.

People who are obese have an up to three times higher likelihood of being admitted once they fall ill from COVID-19, and once admitted, due to the decreased capacity of their lungs, they do poorly on ventilators. In general, obesity also increases your overall mortality risk.

It is very important to increase the awareness of obesity as it has a big influence on health, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The complex interactions and causes of obesity

One of the most common New Year’s resolutions is losing weight. Especially after all the feasting over the holiday season.

It is a common assumption that eating more and exercising less leads to being overweight, which is true to an extent. Obese individuals are often judged based on their appearance and it is important to understand that obesity is the result of many complex interactions.

Weight gain is the result of expending less energy than consumed resulting in energy stored as fat. But where we live also plays a role. According to research from 2008, 64% of Sout Africa's population is living in an urban setting. This poses as a barrier to physical activity.

As areas become more urbanised, recreational spaces used for exercise and relaxation, decrease. Unfortunately, these recreational spaces aren’t always that safe, which is another obstacle.

An urbanised life is also fast-paced and more stressful. With increasing stress comes increased levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, which in turns affects weight gain. Hormones thus also play a role in obesity.

Poverty remains an important barrier to all good health outcomes. Unhealthy food, especially fast food, is cheaper and more accessible especially to impoverished communities.

Unhealthy food is full of sugar, too much salt and unhealthy fat which affects the body’s reward system resulting in cravings and sugar addiction.

Poverty, safety, and access to healthy food are three significant areas that need to be addressed in order to fight the dual epidemic in South Africa. Strong leadership from out government is therefore essential.

Dr Chané Pretorius