Abstract:
Context: A survey made worldwide (including South Africa) revealed that most teenagers are
overweight and obese and that they eat little nutritious food. Obesity and overweight are public
health problems and need to be addressed from a community perspective. The reason for
exploring this problem in this study was that South Africa has one of the highest rates of
overweight and obesity in the world among urban and rural black women.
Objective: Investigating the eating and lifestyle habits of overweight and obese female
teenagers in Thulamela Local Municipality, Limpopo province, South Africa.
Design, setting and participants: This was an exploratory, descriptive study conducted in
2006–2007 amongst 125 female teenagers aged 13 to 18 years from rural schools in Thulamela
Local Municipality. A hundred and twenty-five questionnaires were completed and data were
gathered on the demographics, social and lifestyle habits, nutrition-related problems, dietary
patterns and dietary history of the participants.
Measurements: Eating and lifestyle habits, physical activity, meaning of healthy and
unhealthy dietary habits, weight, height and body mass index were measured.
Results: Seventy percent of the respondents actively consumed three meals in a day, 83%
consumed starchy snacks between meals, whilst 72% of the respondents carried lunchboxes to
school. Regarding lifestyle habits, 88% of the respondents slept more hours than recommended
(8 hours) 88% performed sedentary activities and 66% did physical activities such as walking.
Conclusion: The results pointed out unhealthy eating and lifestyle habits influencing
teenagers’ weight. Identified factors must be considered in order to develop tailored nutrition
interventions to improve teenagers’ consciousness about adopting a healthy lifestyle.
