Have we lost the global obesity battle?

Abstract

In 2013, I wrote two successive editorials on obesity in this journal.^1,2 This was in response to my concern that little action is being taken by adults, children, healthcare workers and politicians to address this serious problem, present in our public and private healthcare systems, and with disastrous health management challenges. In 2013, according to available South African national data, it was estimated that a third of all South African women were obese. The incidence in coloured, white and Indian women was similar, with approximately a quarter being obese. South African men were significantly less likely to be obese than women. Less than one tenth were obese. When disaggregated by population group, approximately 18% of all white men are obese, followed by 9% of Indians, 8% of coloureds and 6% of African men.³