Discovery Vitality's ObeCity Survey released this week estimates the economic effect of obesity on South Africa to be about R700-billion a year - a truly startling figure.
The obesity explosion is a public health crisis and this week's data adds weight to
the country's moves to introduce a sugar
tax in the face of vigorous opposition from industry.
But a sugar tax is not a solution in itself and is unlikely on its own to drive significant change in consumer behaviour towards healthier eating habits.
The government should look to subsidies of healthy foods which go further than the laudable existing zero VAT rating on a basket of 19 basic foods, as well as considering a "fat tax" on unhealthy fast foods as other countries are introducing.
No South African should be obese - or malnourished - because they are too poor to eat healthy food.