SA must urgently tackle childhood obesity

YOUNG children in South Africa are developing serious health conditions such as high blood pressure, high glucose and abnormal cholesterol levels which are usually only seen in adults, due to obesity.

- GCWALISILE KHANYILE

This was revealed in a study conducted by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital in Durban, which assessed obesity-related comorbidities in children under the age of 12.

The study analysed health records of 430 children treated for obesity between 2012 and 2022. More than a quarter (27.9%) of the children were under the age of five, and the average age was just over seven years. Nearly half of the children had hypertension (46.1%), while another 12.8% were found to be pre-hypertensive.

In addition, 30.2% had dyslipidaemia, abnormal cholesterol or fat levels in the blood, and about 5% had either prediabetes or type 2 diabetes.

According to researchers these conditions significantly increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases such heart attacks and strokes, and kidney problems later in life.

The role of unhealthy lifestyle habits was also flagged, as many of the children reported behaviours known to contribute to weight gain and cardiometabolic issues.

Almost half (47.9%) consumed sugary soft drinks daily, 43.5% spent more than two hours a day on screens, and 42.3% engaged in less than 30 minutes of physical activity per day.

A strong family history of obesity, diabetes and hypertension among participants may point to both genetic predispositions and unhealthy family environments where poor diet and inactivity are common.

Professor Nasheeta Peer, one of the study’s authors and a researcher at the SAMRC’s Non-Communicable Diseases Research Unit, stated that the high burden of chronic diseases in children, some as young as five, is a red flag.

“These are conditions we typically expect in middle-aged adults, yet they’re already taking root in childhood due to obesity. The data show a clear link between lifestyle and these health conditions. We must intervene early if we want to reverse the trend,” Peer said.