Obsity spreads to South Africa

Xinhua - English: "JOHANNESBURG, May 30 (Xinhuanet) -- Obesity is a great public health problem in South Africa, with 23 percent of men and 57 percent of women being overweight, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Monday.

Physical inactivity and unhealthy eating were the cause of obesity, the minister said in a media statement.

Seventeen percent of adolescents were found to be overweight inthe Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted in public schools in 2002,with 25 percent of South African adolescents watching television for more than three hours a day. Girls were found to be at a greater risk for physical inactivity than boys, according to the survey. "