We need a change of thinking to lose weight

YOUR front-page article "Sick, fat and sad" (yesterday) refers.

I used the globally accepted Body Mass Index to see how the Springbok squad for the rugby international against England on June 9 2012 in Durban compared with the two-thirds of women in South Africa being overweight or obese, as claimed by the SA National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Of the 22 Springboks, 14 were overweight, four obese, one severely obese, and three were deemed normal. This equates to 82.6% of the squad being overweight or obese.

The England squad fared worse, with all of them defined as overweight or obese. - Gary Gower, by e-mail

YOUR lead story yesterday quotes a survey stating the obvious. Too many South Africans are overweight or obese.

On page three, there's a picture of people in New York prancing down the street in their underwear. Those appearing in underwear in public do not include the "symphonies of cellulite". A similar parade in Johannesburg could be helpful in persuading people to lose weight. However, in South Africa, unfortunately the fat and flabby appear to be proud of sporting their obesity.

Other surveys have shown that high levels of stress in South Africa lead to "comfort eating and drinking", and given widespread poverty it is not the "right foods" that are eaten.

What's to be done? There has to be a change in mindset: the power of the brain must overcome temptation. - Cliff Saunders, Northcliff

THE survey in your paper says we have some of the fattest and most obese kids in the world. Then they tell us half of the population lacks food security. One in four households experiences hunger. I would have said probably more.

The number of citizens living at risk of hunger has risen. This is understandable when one sees the price of food and basics such as bread. Thousands of children go to school every day without breakfast, and probably come home without an evening meal as well. I am not denying there are fat children out there, but I would say we do not have the fattest children in the world when so many of our children are half-starved.

In a country where malnutrition is rife, I would say our statistics are flawed. - Barbie Sandler, by e-mail