Nation Needs to Move on Diet and Exercise

A New Research Study Lifts the Lid on Kids, Nutrition and Exercise

Our kids are getting larger, eating badly and exercising less. Regular Physical Education (PE) is not a feature in the majority of our government schools, and frantic working parents are seemingly not successful in guiding their children to a healthy approach to what they eat, and what they do.......

These are the top line trends emerging from a recent SANEP (South African Nutrition Expert Panel – a Kellogg and Clover sponsored initiative) research study analysing the qualitative aspects of nutrition and exercise amongst children aged 8 –13 years old, and their parents and teachers.

The SANEP study examined the participating children’s activities, as well as their daily nutrition, through nationwide focus groups consisting of parents, teachers and children.

The study was split into two Living Standard Measures (LSM) groupings, namely LSM 4-6 (the developing market, facilitated in the vernacular) and LSM 7-10 (the developed market).

The overall aim of the SANEP study was to determine what motivated children to eat and do exercise, and to establish a qualitative framework through which parents, teachers and children themselves will be able to develop a better understanding of physical health.

Dr. Karen Sharwood, of the UCT / MRC Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, highlights some of the national statistics that provide a contextual backdrop to the SANEP study.

‘At UCT we recently conducted a national survey of fitness characteristics between ages 6 – 12. The data is not officially published yet, but the obesity statistics are at 20%, including overweight and obese children. For me that is horrendous,’ she says ‘In addition, another study (Birth to Twenty) showed that less than a third (30%) of black South African children are offered PE at school, while more than 40% of South African youth do not engage regularly in vigorous physical activity.’

Clearly then, South Africa has a problem with its children and their approach to food and exercise. The result of this problem is not only an increasing number of overweight children, but also a looming generation of adults with bad eating habits and no culture of physical activity.

According to Michael van Roodt, CEO of The Future Factory, an NGO providing physical education and life skills to rural and urban schools in the Western Cape, on average the South African government spends 35c (per pupil, per annum) on physical education. This may seem shocking to some, but it would be foolish to lay the blame for the nation’s eating and exercise issues squarely at government’s door.

Quite apart from the country’s national agenda when it comes to nutrition and exercise, the SANEP study has revealed a range of important issues within families and schools that need to be collaboratively addressed by parents, teachers and children:

• Regardless of LSM category, South African families lack balance in their daily lives, and this lack of balance impacts directly on children’s nutritional habits and physical activity.
• There is still a powerful emphasis (in schools, amongst parents and amongst children themselves) on competitive physical activity and honouring of the elite. This has the effect of alienating many of the children, who often chose not to participate because sport is no longer compulsory. This trend continues to negate the notion of sport as activity for health, enjoyment and social interaction.
• Local and international media play a crucial role in this regard, with particular reference to advertising and the power of celebrities to influence children’s lifestyles.
• Safety in South Africa is an important issue, with perceptions of crime and vulnerability (once again, across both LSM brackets) impacting on children’s ability to play and be active on the streets and in the parks.
• While tween boys are more predisposed to physical activity as they move into their early teens, tween girls increasingly orientated themselves towards sedentary social interaction. However, a clear understanding of the relationship between physical activity, body identity, self worth and peer acceptance was also demonstrated.

‘The study is very revealing,’ says Marlinie Kotiah, Nutrition, Corporate and Consumer Affairs Manager at Kellogg SA. ‘The qualitative overview of people’s attitudes and behaviours is very important for all the stakeholders involved in the field. It highlights the disparities between what people say and what they do and these insights enable us to take action that is helpful and meaningful.”

Regardless of who you talk to, members of the SANEP panel concur that South Africa requires action on a national level. And, this action is already partially in evidence. The Department of Health is showing strong commitment to mass participation in physical activity, whilst the previous Minister of Education Kadar Asmal, has become the patron of the Charter of Physical Activity and Sport For Children and Youth in South Africa.

But while momentum is slowly building up at a national level, the SANEP study also pin points the role parents and families need to play in our future generation’s physical health. Many respondents to the survey highlighted the issue of competitive sport, for example.

‘As a mother and as a professional I see children being pushed very strongly by over-enthusiastic parents to get into teams and to achieve what they are quite possibly not capable of,’ says Kim Grossett, SANEP Panel Member and Director of Run / Walk for Life. ‘The result is a lack of motivation – children not wanting to exercise because they can’t achieve unrealistic goals.’

‘Parents should not be putting this much pressure on children,’ Sharwood adds. ‘The emphasis should be on socialising, healthy activity and enjoyment, preferably with the family unit, not just in the environment of the school. If children are only getting recognition when they are achieving, it defeats the purpose of trying to make exercise fun.’

The SANEP study also highlights the need for a new approach to physical activity and nutrition education. While parents and children demonstrated a solid understanding of the benefits of healthy eating and exercise, they also showed a lack of ability in translating that understanding into action.

“This seems to be a function of too much discretionary choice being given to kids,” comments Liz Kullmann, dietitian and SANEP member. As one of the group respondents highlighted “Each year the kids are getting fatter – they come to school armed with healthy tuck and money – and they often choose to ignore the tuck and buy “junk” from the tuck-shop. They skip breakfast and then don’t have the energy to concentrate in class. Then lunch of pizzas, pies, fizzy drinks and chips is often all they have to sustain them in their afternoon activities. Mums come to pick them up regularly armed with fast foods. Added to this, kids can now choose if they want to participate in sports – and many of them choose not to.”

‘In future we should be looking at providing schools with material aimed at guiding parents and children alike on how to approach activity rather than sport alone, how to make activity fun and on giving parents menus which are both healthy and convenient and obviate the need to buy too much fatty, low nutrient foods’ says Kullmann.

Regardless of affluence, South African families are mostly working households where parents are often removed from their children for long periods of time, and where children receive a great deal of personal responsibility for nutrition and exercise habits. The SANEP study makes it abundantly clear that South African families are in something of a crisis when it comes to food and exercise, and it is perhaps here, in the heart of the home, that South Africa needs to place its most urgent attention.

‘We are all born to run, jump and climb trees. However, parents are conditioning their children to be inactive by saying ‘Go sit quietly and read’, or ‘Go and play TV / computer games’, or stop running around like a child and grow up’, says Cari Corbet-Owen, Clinical Psychologist specialising in body image / childhood obesity issues, SANEP member and author of Mind over Fatter.

‘So, while parents are negatively conditioning their children by scolding when they are too active, they are also positively reinforcing inactivity amongst their children, who are praised for playing quietly, and being a ‘good’ girl or boy,’ Corbet Owen continues. ‘All children start off loving activity and then gradually this is conditioned out of them by well-meaning (but exhausted!) parents who are often only repeating the messages they received as children.’

Lastly, the SANEP study highlighted the emotional struggle working South African parents are going through. Whether as a result of an over-scheduled elite life, or for the masses without access to amenities, coaches or opportunity, South African children are suffering similar consequences of modern urban existence. A significant percentage of children are eating more energy-dense and nutrient-light food, exercising less and have less contact with parents than in the past. And there is no doubt that parents feel guilty about these issues. This guilt, in combination with strategic nagging and general parental exhaustion, leads to the soothing of emotions with frequent treats, and ordering take away foods over the weekends for convenience…. and so the negative pattern of inadequate nutritional habits and a lack of exercise is reinforced.