Health expert: Obesity on rise in South Africa
Trend tied to fears of looking like AIDS victim, expert says
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) -- Obesity is on the rise among black women in South Africa in part because of fears of looking like an AIDS victim, a top health expert said on Friday.
Tessa van der Merwe of the International Association for the Study of Obesity said around one in three black South African women is now seriously overweight, as new factors compound a lingering sense in the black community that big is beautiful.
"Regretfully, there is also a perception that if a black woman is thin, she might have HIV/AIDS or that her husband can't afford to feed her well," van der Merwe said in a statement.
South Africa has one of the world's worst HIV/AIDS caseloads, with an estimated 5 million of its 45 million people infected with the virus. It also has one of the world's highest rates of violent crime.
Studies show that South Africa has weight problems across all race groups, with half of women and one third of men overweight. Those levels are just 20 percent lower than in the United States, regarded by many as the world's fattest country.
But black women are the most seriously affected and 30 percent are now clinically obese, van der Merwe said, adding that for many regular exercise was not an option.
"There is the reality -- it simply isn't safe to walk around," the researcher said, adding that black women as a social group were those who suffered the most.
"We should be convincing black women that weight loss has a markedly helpful effect on health," she said, noting a traditional fatty diet among black women.
Van der Merwe, who heads South Africa's first obesity clinic and addressed a major gastroentorology congress in South Africa this week, said rising obesity was causing health problems such as heart disease, hypertension and diabetes.
Obesity on the Rise 
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