Child obesity study: 13% of South African children under five are obese

Child obesity is growing in South Africa, according to the 2019 SA Child Gauge Report.

At least 13% of children, under the age of five, are obese.

One in four children malnourished, causing obesity 

In an interview with eNCA, Editor of the 2019 Child Gauge report and Education Specialist from UCT’s Children’s Institute, Lori Lake said one in four young children are stunted.

“That means they’re chronically malnourished and it’s not just a matter of being short for their age,” said Lake. 

She went on to say that 60% of children are below the poverty line. 

“Stunting also influences their education and their employment prospects across the life course. There is the growing burden of diseases in adulthood, diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases,” said Lake. 

She explained that this then adds strain on the Public Health system which is already stretched so thin.

“Early investment in childhood and adolescence is important in order to break the cycle,” she added.  

Early childhood development crucial 

Lake expressed how crucial it is to focus on childhood development. She made a link to patterns of violence in society. 

“There is a strong link to violence against women and children. Children who experience or witness violence in the home at a young age – for girls, they are more likely to become victims and boys are more likely to become the perpetrators,” said Lake. 

The point is that what happens very early in childhood sets the trajectory for health and development later in life. 

“We need to up the game, starting really early and even in preconception. Particularly in the first 1 000 days of life, so pregnancy until a child’s second birthday is a time where the developing brain and body are particularly sensitive to environmental Q’s and then again in adolescence where there’s a second rapid period of brain development,” said Lake. 

She explained that it is these investments that can carry forward across the life course. “They will not only improve for today but for the adults, they will become tomorrow and their children,” added Lake.  

Socio-economic factors causing obesity 

Lake said that the way in which we respond to children – talking, playing, singing reading to them and what we feed them is extremely important. 

“We also need to understand that those individual choices of food are shaped by the broader food environment. There’s an increase in foods that are highly processed, filled with sugar and salt and they are flooding supermarkets in the townships, penetrating rural areas and they are cheap and easily accessible,” said Lake.    

She explained that It’s an incredible task for many people in South Africa to make healthy food choices for their children.

“It’s an intersection between poverty and industry that is producing and marketing these unhealthy foods,” she said. 

“One of the things the Guage is calling for is for the government to step in and better regulate unhealthy foods and to promote healthy choices that are affordable for everyone,” added Lake.