New research from Discovery Health shows that Cape Town is the healthiest city in South Africa – despite not necessarily being the most active.
South Africa is facing an obesity crisis, with more than 20 million (more than half) South African adults being overweight and obese.
According to research by Action, in South Africa, roughly 31% of men, 68% of women and 13% of children between the ages of 6-14 years are overweight or obese.
The World Health Organization estimates that globally 39% of adults are overweight, while 13% are obese.
Annually, 2.8 million people die due to excess weight, with the chances of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, high cholesterol and certain types of cancer increasing.
Discovery’s data said that Vitality members who are overweight or obese experience large increases in their healthcare claims, as the risk of these comorbidities increases as members move further out of the healthy‑weight range.
Dr Mosima Mabunda, Head of Wellness at Discovery Vitality, said that a person’s environment influences their weight, with energy-dense food readily available in South Africa.
The cost of living crisis and load shedding has also forced many South Africans to buy cheaper, more-convenient meals. In addition, South Africans are not remaining active and getting enough sleep, leading to potential weight gain, the group said.
Although genetics does play a role in weight gain, she said that its effects are minimal compared to other areas.
Vitality looked at the healthy weight of major cities in South Africa in its ObeCity Index.
The results are as follows:
- Cape Town
- Johannesburg
- Durban
- Pretoria
- Bloemfontein
- Gqeberha
Looking at specific data, Cape Town beat Johannesburg (2) and Durban (3) in healthy food purchases, while those in Pretoria had the least.
However, Johannesburg had the highest percentage of members logging a workout, beating Gqeberha (second) and Cape Town (third).
Discovery Vitality CEO Dinesh Govender said: “We analysed almost 300,000 Vitality Health Checks completed across South Africa in 2022 to rank the cities according to the proportion of Vitality members who have a healthy weight.”
“Globally, research shows good nutrition and physical activity are important for managing weight. That is why we also analysed members’ physical activity and food purchasing data to give us insights into our members’ exercise and eating habits,” Govender said.
Discovery said that the main challenges Vitality members face when trying to lose weight were a need for support (26%), a lack of time to cook or exercise (23.5%) and the cost of healthy food (17%).
The main motivation for members wanting to reach a healthy weight was to simply improve their health. Members also said that they wanted to feel better physically, look better, improve their mental state, and get more Vitality points.
Discovery is launching the Vitality HealthyWeight program that will directly link Vitality members to a nutrition coach via WhatsApp, with meal plans, recipes and shopping lists provided.
Read: Discovery launches new affordable private health insurance package
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