Researchers from the University of the Western Cape found that middle-aged black women, unlike their normal weight and obese counterparts, were not only content with their weight, but with many wanting to pack on more kilograms.
The women were among nearly 80 men and women aged from 35 to 70, all from Langa, involved in the study: Perceptions of body size, obesity threat and the willingness to lose weight among black South African adults.
Although the overweight women had a body mass index (BMI) of 25,5 to 30, as opposed to the 18 to 24 of the normal weight participants, and cited over-eating and fatty, junk and sugary foods as causes of weight gain, they believed overweight equals happiness.
Only if they had struggled with a previous chronic disease did they want to lose weight. If not, they indicated they’d be happy to add some kilograms.
The results come against the reality in South Africa, where excess body weight (BMI over 25) was blamed in a 2000 study for 87% of type 2 diabetes, 38% of heart disease, and 45% of strokes.
The authors pointed out that between 2002 and 2012, the prevalence of overweight and obesity spiked from 57% to 65% in South Africa.
More concerning news from the study was that women of all sizes believed their culture, or their genetics, determined their size.
“We have big bones … Overweight is something we inherited,” one said.
Another added: “According to our values and culture, it is important for a woman to have a large body. It makes you to be respected (sic).”
The authors found that while opinions on thinness and overweight differed, the common opinion was that thin was bad, while overweight was “socially desirable”.
If you were thin, you were viewed as unhealthy, and associated with people living with HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, or battling cancer.
You were also likely to have mental health issues, such as depression.
One of the women in the overweight category went so far as to say that if her child lost weight, she’d be concerned.
There was some indication, however, that younger women (aged 36 to 40) thought differently, and could indicate a shift in perceptions in the longer term.
Women in this age group, in both the overweight and obese categories, challenged the persistent cultural tolerance of large body size, the authors reported.
One participant, who said she believed things were changing, pointed out that women ate because of men’s view that overweight women were “dignified”.
“That is why we … ate everything, not knowing that we are putting our health in danger (sic),” she was quoted as saying.
Although the authors said the fact that three-quarters of study participants were unemployed and of low socio-economic status and education levels could slant their views, they remained.
Not only did the women in the overweight category fail to see themselves as being at risk of obesity, but appeared unaware of the associated health risks.
Appropriate strategies to boost such awareness was therefore critical, they suggested.
Authored by School of Public Health doctoral candidate, Kufre Okop, doctoral fellow, Ferdinand Mukumbang, senior researcher, Thubelihle Mathole, Professor Naomi Levitt and Professor emeritus Thandi Puoane, the study was published in April in the UK-based peer-reviewed journal BMC Public Health.
