Recent focus groups undertaken by Markinor on behalf of the 5-a-Day for Better Health TRUST, finds that the majority of urban South African women rate eating plenty of fruit and vegetables and exercising regularly as the two key elements necessary for maintaining optimal health.

“The focus groups show that urban women regard eating vegetables and fruit and getting sufficient exercise and sleep as being vital to good health,” says Jane Badham, registered dietitian and CEO of the 5-a-Day for Better Health TRUST. “This is in line with the views of international health experts and the World Health Organisation’s own research, which has found that unhealthy diets and physical inactivity are among the leading causes of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and obesity.”

The prominence of these so-called diseases of lifestyle and their contribution to the burden of mortality, morbidity and disability is growing rapidly in developing countries. In fact, the Medical Research Council (MRC) reported in 2000, that chronic diseases accounted for 37% of all deaths in South Africa.

The MRC further reported that the overall diet of South Africans has increased in fat and decreased in fruit and vegetables. Not to mention the National Food Consumption Survey’s warning that showed that South African children aren’t meeting their vitamin and mineral requirements, which is impacting negatively on their mental and physical performances. One in three South African children is deficient in vital vitamin A and 6% of children under the age of 6 are overweight.

These findings, combined with general trends in the country showing increasingly high levels of inactivity, paint a very scary picture.

So much so, that the Department of Health is promoting two core principles among South Africans: get active and eat plenty of fruit and vegetables every day. These two objectives are inextricably linked, and the 5-a-Day for Better Health Trust says that although many South Africans are aware of this, they’re just not doing it.

“This trend has to change and South Africans need to turn knowledge into action,” says Badham. “It’s clear that if we want to remain healthy, regain our health or prevent disease, improved eating habits have to go hand in hand with increased physical activity. The 5-a-Day for Better Health TRUST supports World Move for Health Day and encourages all South Africans to aim for at least five servings of a variety of vegetables and fruit every day and get active.

Badham concludes by saying that increasing vegetable and fruit consumption is easily achieved through creatively incorporating as many different colours, shapes and varieties of vegetables and fruit in the daily diet. Give it a go it could do wonders for your health.