South Africa is rapidly catching up to America with regard to obesity. Furthermore, we are starting to see childhood obesity increasing which further perpetuates health issues among many South Africans.
“We need to start improving our lifestyles and influence our children to be more active and to start eating healthier for longevity and overall health benefits and being active and eating healthier during these warmer months is a perfect way to start,” says personal trainer and fitness guru Ezethu ‘Ezzy’ Salaze.
According to Ezzy, over the past few years, he has noticed a ‘severe’ increase obesity-especially among younger people. “Obesity is nothing to play with. It affects your life, your health, your confidence and your longevity. Simple tasks like walking up or down a flight of stairs becomes a challenge. Now, I do realise that some individuals are predisposed to being ‘bigger’ in terms of their weight but even so, there is no excuse for neglecting one’s health,” she said.
In a survey conducted by Statistics South Africa in 2016 (click here: http://bit.ly/sadhs2016), the prevalence of hypertension, overweight, and obesity appears to have increased since 1998. The survey highlighted that the body mass index (BMI) score indicated that 68% of women and 31% of men in South Africa are overweight or obese. One of the major concerns is the high prevalence of severe obesity among South African women. One in five women has a BMI ≥ 35.0 which places her in the severely obese category. Forty-six percent of women and 44% of men are hypertensive based on their systolic blood pressure being above 140mmHg, their diastolic blood pressure being above 90 mmHg or taking antihypertensive medication. Haemoglobin levels, adjusted for altitude and smoking status, indicate that the prevalence of anaemia among adults age 15 and older is 31% for women and 17% for men.
The numbers highlighted above have since increased. Ezzy has now turned her focus on highlighting health issues related to obesity. “I felt that I needed to, not only highlight the dangers of obesity, but to help those who are currently obese and are trying to live their best lives,” she said. She also mentioned that in his more-than-a-decade’s worth of fitness experience, it is in these warmer months that people can maximise their training time, their diets and most importantly can take better control of their overall well-being.
Naturally in the warmer months, people in general, tend to eat more, feel more tired and in doing so they increase their fat reserves. They also tend to be less active which, in these Covid-19 pandemic times, has increased. Ezzy said that people need to have a mindset of achieving the impossible and to challenge themselves to be better. “My first advice is to be more active, and one can start by waking up earlier. Challenge yourself, despite the weather and other excuses. Monitor your carbohydrate intake, drink more water and increase the heart rate by doing simple exercises for just an hour a day for at least four to five days a week,” she added.
Ezzy also mentioned that now is the time to nurture those bodies. “With social media and this connected lives we live; we are overwhelmed with celebrities and influencers sharing pics of their perfect bodies. My advice is to not be intimidated by all of those. Anyone can get the body and energy levels of their dreams. Just start today-it is never too late,” she said.
Ezzy is offering free advice for people to live and lead their best lives. Follow her on social media and email him to find out more. Instagram: @ezzslaze and Email: ezethu.salaze@gmail.com.
