South Africans are consuming more processed foods than ever before, reaching for sugary drinks and quick snacks as convenience increasingly outweighs nutrition, and the health consequences are becoming impossible to ignore. Conditions once associated with older age groups, such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease, are now appearing in teenagers and young adults.
It is no longer unusual for someone in their twenties to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or hypertension.
A recent VOC News poll found that 98% of respondents believe they are being priced out of eating healthily, underscoring a growing crisis in food affordability.
Dietitian and Wellness Life Coach Mariam Forgan said that lifestyle pressures are pushing people toward quick but harmful food choices.
“We are going into a generation where we are working and then turning to convenience and things that are easy, and unfortunately, those types of foods are not necessarily the best for our bodies and over time can cause diseases of lifestyle.”
Listen to the full interview with Mariam Forgan below:
Development economist Prof Stephen Devereux adds that income levels simply haven’t kept up with the rising cost of food, widening what he calls the “food affordability gap.”
“Prices of food are rising faster than people’s income. As the gap between what food costs and what people can afford increases, people are increasingly forced to rely on inferior foods just to survive. Healthy diets cost more, and as they become more unaffordable, people shift toward unhealthy foods, and we see that happening in South Africa right now.”
Listen to the full interview below Prof Stephen Devereux:
VOC News
Photo: Pexels
