And the Companies for Healthy Food South Africa

This is lunchtime at the Kaires School of Investigation in Randburg, South Africa.

Dozens of children are excitedly lined in front of the table, loaded with large pots with fresh, hot food.

“Today we have a kitschi on the menu – a mixture of Dalo and Rice, with tomato chats, shawl and salad,” says the school chef when she serves the students.

The school has decided to introduce mainly vegetarian food policies as part of an effort to commit an alarming global trend: for the first time, The number of overweight children overtook the number of underweight.

The UN says the number of overweight teens and obese around the world has almost three times in two decades.

And the number of overweight children between the ages of five and nine increased from 69 million to 147 million.

And South Africa is one of the worst countries. In South Africa, the task of an unhealthy diet begins early. Studies show that almost 80% of baby food on the market with high sugar content, and children are additionally undergoing aggressive marketing unhealthy products.

Parents in Kaires were asked to pack only solid products in the dining boxes of their children.

Teacher Mark Lun believes that politics has given the opportunity to teach students about the importance of healthy eating.

“If all the schools were imitating our intention to be thoughtful and realized that children are putting in their bodies … The health of the children will serve,” he said.

According to UNICEF, the increasing popularity of convenient food in the world is in part responsible for the growth of obesity among children.

The lawyer of the trainee Mamhabel Mtmb, 23, said the BBC that when she was younger, fast -food was a treat.

“I grew up with my grandmother, not in the best circumstances,” she says. “Unsecured food is what we looked at because my grandmother didn’t always have money, so it was a sign of celebration.”

Because of that, she says she never thought of unhealthy food as unhealthy. Instead, he became a desire.

But it changed when she moved to Pretoria at the age of 19 at the university, where her student residence was at the top of the fast food restaurant.

With a tense schedule, she says she found that she chooses eating eating over cooking – and this had a long effect on her health.

“Now I have overweight, that’s what I’m not proud of,” she says. “I had a gum bleeding as a kid from food too many goodies that I have today. I have breathing problems.”

Her struggle made her become a UNICEF supporter in her spare time. She wants more students to know about the harm that fast -food can do to her health.

In poor medium income countries there is the greatest splash of overweight children and obesity.

But while in poor countries, overweight children are usually from wealthy families who can pay for calorie products, in medium -sized economies, like South Africa, more people can afford to go to fast food restaurants.

This led to an explosion in the number of chains across the country. The South African fast food market was estimated at $ 2.7 billion (2 billion pounds) in 2018 and is expected to reach 4.9 billion dollars by 2026.

UNICEF says you need to do more to stop these companies from marketing to children and youth.

“Earlier, we would always blame the person for not playing sports or did not eat healthy,” says Gilbert Tshawadyi, South Africa’s UNICEF food manager.

“But we know it’s really wrong. How do you expect a person to live a healthier lifestyle if their environment doesn’t allow them to do it?”

He says UNICEF advised the South African government to limit the unhealthy food to children.

Constant presence of convenient food is an additional problem for parents who want to keep children healthy.

The eight -year -old daughter of Padi, Sofia, was diagnosed with a rare AUTOMUMUMUM ADEM disease (acute common encephalomyelitis) when she was 18 months old.

Sophia received steroid shots to help her symptom, but her mother thinks they brought her weight to the balloon. Now it weighs 107 kg (236 pounds).

“Her nutritionists see that it is not about food. They say she usually eats,” she says.

Ms. Paddy put her daughter on a low carbohydrate diet, but still struggling to maintain her weight.

Proponents have created pages on social media to raise money for Sofia. Although Ms. Paddy says she can’t afford fast food, welcoming times will sometimes buy it for a daughter as a pleasure.

“We rarely go out, but when we do it, she sometimes asks fast -food. She’s a baby, so he wants these things.”

Currently, Ms. Paddy is unemployed and fights to provide her daughter’s support, including swimming lessons.

Sometimes she takes Sophia on

The South African government has submitted higher sweet beverage taxes in 2018.

But this did not stop the rising level of obesity in children – 22% of children under five are overweight or obesity in South Africa, which is compared to 13% in 2016.

UNICEF says countries need to improve access to local, nutritious food for children and adolescents.

“South Africa is known to be supplied by nutrition,” says Mr. Tshitoudi. “But many households have no money to get healthier options from high unemployment.”

In a statement to the BBC, the South African Ministry of Health says he is trying to encourage parents to give children healthy food in infancy.

“Studies show that nearly 80% of baby food on the market with high sugar content, and children are also undergoing aggressive marketing unhealthy products,” the report said.

The ministry states that it plans to introduce a new policy that requires a power marking on the front of the package or FOPL, on the products to solve the problem of excessive amounts of sugar, fat and salt.

“Marketing of all FOPL products will be limited and will not allow them to make claims to health,” he adds.

Returning to Cairos school, the break time. Children eat from lunch boxes filled with fruits, vegetables and sandwiches made from bread.

Until governments will not be able to pursue a policy that can change the growth of childhood obesity, it remains an institute and people to protect the health of future generations.