UCT Study reveals factors behind rise in obesity in SA women of childbearing age
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University of Cape Town (UCT) doctoral student Mweete Debra Nglazi calls for more awareness and attention to be put on consequences of overweight and obesity on women especially of child bearing age in South Africa before it’s too late.
She said people should pay more attention to their diet and lifestyle as study reveals that women of ages between 15 & 49 years seem to be gaining more weight.
Nglazi, from UCT’s Faculty of Health Sciences, used nationally representative data from the 2008–2017 National Income Dynamics Study, 1998 and 2016 South African Demographic and Health surveys, and 2005/06 and 2010/11 Income and Expenditure surveys to assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity changes between 1998 and 2017 for non-pregnant women of the above mentioned ages in South Africa. She also examined the determinants of overweight and obesity.
She also found, in the study, that a number of overweight females has over the years increased by 8.7%, from 51.3% to 60.0%, and obesity increased from 24.7% to 35.2%.
She said that there has been a huge lifestyle change between women living in rural areas with little education compared to women with tertiary education living in urban areas.
They seemed to have been more health conscious compared to those in rural areas.
According to a government report published in 2019, about 41% of women and 11% of men aged 15 years and above were obese.
“In 1998, women with no primary education and those with secondary education had a higher overweight and obesity prevalence than those with tertiary education. But this pattern was reversed in 2017.”
“For most women, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in 2017 was significantly higher than the estimate in 1998. Significant predictors of overweight and obesity included increased age, self-identifying with the black African population group, higher educational attainment, residing in an urban area, and wealth. Smoking was inversely associated with being overweight and obese,” she said.
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