scholarly journals Pensions, consumption and health: evidence from rural South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Lloyd-Sherlock ◽  
Sutapa Agrawal ◽  
Francesc Xavier Gómez-Olivé
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Older People ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Food Scarcity ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Food And Drink

Abstract Background Increasing numbers of older people in sub-Saharan Africa are gaining access to pension benefits and it is often claimed that these benefits promote healthy forms of consumption, which contribute to significant improvements in their health status. However, evidence to support these claims is limited. Methods The paper uses data for 2701 people aged 60 or over who participated in a population-based study in rural north-eastern South Africa. It analyses effects of receiving a pension on reported food scarcity, body mass index and patterns of consumption. Results The paper finds that living in a pension household is associated with a reduced risk of reported food scarcity and with higher levels of consumption of food and drink. The paper does not find that living in a pension household is associated with a higher prevalence of current smoking nor current alcohol consumption. However, the paper still finds that tobacco and alcohol make up over 40% of reported food and drink consumption, and that the correlation between reported food scarcity and body mass index status is imperfect. Conclusions The paper does not show significant associations between pension receipt and the selected risk factors. However, the context of prevalent obesity and high shares of household spending allocated to tobacco and alcohol call into question widely-made claims that pensions enhance healthy consumption among older people in low and middle-income countries.

scholarly journals Heterogeneous contributions of change in population distribution of body mass index to change in obesity and underweight

eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Maria LC Iurilli ◽  
Bin Zhou ◽  
James E Bennett ◽  
Rodrigo M Carrillo-Larco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Severe Obesity ◽  
Population Distribution ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
East And Southeast Asia ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Change In Mean

From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in different regions using data from 2896 population-based studies with 187 million participants. Changes in the prevalence of underweight and total obesity, and to a lesser extent severe obesity, are largely driven by shifts in the distribution of BMI, with smaller contributions from changes in the shape of the distribution. In East and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the underweight tail of the BMI distribution was left behind as the distribution shifted. There is a need for policies that address all forms of malnutrition by making healthy foods accessible and affordable, while restricting unhealthy foods through fiscal and regulatory restrictions.

scholarly journals Association between Maternal Origin, Pre-Pregnancy Body Mass Index and Caesarean Section: A Nation-Wide Registry Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (11) ◽  
pp. 5938
Author(s):  
Fatou Jatta ◽  
Johanne Sundby ◽  
Siri Vangen ◽  
Benedikte Victoria Lindskog ◽  
Ingvil Krarup Sørbye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Caesarean Section ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Normal Weight ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Adjusted Relative Risk ◽  
Maternal Origin ◽  
Length Of Residence ◽  
Sub Saharan

Aims: To explore the association between maternal origin and birthplace, and caesarean section (CS) by pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and length of residence. Methods: We linked records from 118,459 primiparous women in the Medical Birth Registry of Norway between 2013 and 2017 with data from the National Population Register. We categorized pre-pregnancy BMI (kg/m2) into underweight (<18.5), normal weight (18.5–24.9) and overweight/obese (≥25). Multinomial regression analysis estimated crude and adjusted relative risk ratios (RRR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for emergency and elective CS. Results: Compared to normal weight women from Norway, women from Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia/Pacific had a decreased risk of elective CS (aRRR = 0.57, 95% CI 0.37–0.87 and aRRR = 0.56, 0.41–0.77, respectively). Overweight/obese women from Europe/Central Asia had the highest risk of elective CS (aRRR = 1.42, 1.09–1.86). Both normal weight and overweight/obese Sub-Saharan African women had the highest risks of emergency CS (aRRR = 2.61, 2.28-2.99; 2.18, 1.81-2.63, respectively). Compared to women from high-income countries, the risk of elective CS was increasing with a longer length of residence among European/Central Asian women. Newly arrived migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest risk of emergency CS. Conclusion: Women from Sub-Saharan Africa had more than two times the risk of emergency CS compared to women originating from Norway, regardless of pre-pregnancy BMI.

A Comparative Analysis of South Africa as a Semi-Industrialised Developing Country

1988 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 473-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. B. Knight
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Industrialised Countries

South Africa has neither a developed nor a typical underdeveloped economy. Too often it has been wrongly classified, along with, say, Australia and New Zealand, as one of the peripheral developed countries, because only a part of the economy and population have the characteristics we associate with that group. Yet its economy is distinctly different from others in sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa falls squarely into the category which the World Bank classifies as ‘upper middle-income’ developing economies, with G.N.P. per capita in 1982 ranging from $2,000 to $7,000 and averaging $2,500, thereby including South Africa, with $2,700.1 (By contrast, Kenya's G.N.P. per capita was $400 and Britain's $10,000). The World Bank's group includes Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, South Korea, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia. South Africa shares many structural economic characteristics with these semi-industrialised countries.

scholarly journals Two-hour surgical access in South Africa: a useful indicator in a middle-income country?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Chu ◽  
Angela J Dell ◽  
Harry Moultrie ◽  
Candy Day ◽  
Megan Naidoo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
District Hospital ◽  
Surgical Care ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Surgical Capacity ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Surgical Access ◽  
District Hospitals ◽  
Government Hospitals ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract Background In a robust health care system, at least 80% of a country’s population should be able to access a district hospital that provides surgical care within two hours. The objective was to identify the proportion of the population living within two hours of a district hospital with surgical capacity in South Africa. Methods All government hospitals in the country were identified. Surgical district hospitals were defined as district hospitals with a surgical provider, a functional operating theatre, and the provision of at least one caesarean section annually. The proportion of the population within two-hour access was estimated using service area methods. Results One hundred and thirty-eight of 240 (58%) district hospitals had surgical capacity and 86% of the population had two-hour access to these facilities. Ninety-eight percent of the population had two-hour access to any government hospital in South Africa. Conclusion Improving equitable surgical access is urgently needed in sub-Saharan Africa. This study demonstrated that in South Africa, just over half of district hospitals had surgical capacity but more than 80% of the population had two-hour access to these facilities. Strengthening district hospital surgical capacity is an international mandate and needed to improve access.

scholarly journals Two-hour surgical access in South Africa: a useful indicator in a middle- income country?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Chu ◽  
Angela J Dell ◽  
Harry Moultrie ◽  
Candy Day ◽  
Megan Naidoo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
District Hospital ◽  
Surgical Care ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Surgical Capacity ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Surgical Access ◽  
District Hospitals ◽  
Government Hospitals ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract Background In a robust health care system, at least 80% of a country’s population should be able to access a district hospital that provides surgical care within two hours. The objective was to identify the proportion of the population living within two hours of a district hospital with surgical capacity in South Africa. Methods All government hospitals in the country were identified. Surgical district hospitals were defined as district hospitals with a surgical provider, a functional operating theatre, and the provision of at least one caesarean section annually. The proportion of the population within two-hour access was estimated using service area methods. Results One hundred and thirty-eight of 240 (58%) district hospitals had surgical capacity and 86% of the population had two-hour access to these facilities. Ninety-eight percent of the population had two-hour access to any government hospital in South Africa. Conclusion Improving equitable surgical access is urgently needed in sub-Saharan Africa. This study demonstrated that in South Africa, just over half of district hospitals had surgical capacity but more than 80% of the population had two-hour access to these facilities. Strengthening district hospital surgical capacity is an international mandate and needed to improve access.

scholarly journals Maternal Body Mass Index Is Strongly Associated with Children Z-Scores for Height and BMI

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pushpa Lata Tigga ◽  
Jaydip Sen
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Body Composition ◽  
Nutritional Status ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Maternal Body Mass Index ◽  
Major Public Health Problem ◽  
Maternal Body ◽  
Sub Saharan

Introduction. Undernutrition continues to be a major public health problem throughout the developing world, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia including India. Limited studies suggest associations between maternal body mass index (BMI) and child nutritional status. The present study aims to determine the relationship between maternal BMI and children nutritional status. Methods. The study was conducted among 246 mothers who had given birth to single children (n=246) and belonged to the Proto-Australoid population of North Bengal, India. The anthropometric measurements of height and weight were recorded following standard procedures. Overall body composition was evaluated using BMI. Result. The results showed that overall mean BMI among mothers was 20.63±2.53 kg/m2, while those among boys and girls were 15.19±1.62 kg/m2 and 14.86±1.37 kg/m2 (p<0.001), respectively. The BMI of mothers were significantly and highly correlated with HAZ (0.709) and BMIZ (0.748) (p<0.001) of children. These are indicative of a strong genetic component between maternal and child anthropometry. Conclusion. The results indicate significant associations between mothers’ and children’s nutritional status. Assessments of body composition and nutritional status using BMI, especially among mothers and their children, are recommended.

scholarly journals Trajectories of body mass index and waist circumference in four Peruvian settings at different level of urbanisation: the CRONICAS Cohort Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 397-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo M Carrillo-Larco ◽  
J Jaime Miranda ◽  
Robert H Gilman ◽  
William Checkley ◽  
Liam Smeeth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Cohort Study ◽  
Waist Circumference ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Low Middle Income Countries ◽  
Averaged Model ◽  
Over Time

BackgroundStudies have reported the incidence/risk of becoming obese, but few have described the trajectories of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) over time, especially in low/middle-income countries. We assessed the trajectories of BMI and WC according to sex in four sites in Peru.MethodsData from the population-based CRONICAS Cohort Study were analysed. We fitted a population-averaged model by using generalised estimating equations. The outcomes of interest, with three data points over time, were BMI and WC. The exposure variable was the factorial interaction between time and study site.ResultsAt baseline mean age was 55.7 years (SD: 12.7) and 51.6% were women. Mean follow-up time was 2.5 years (SD: 0.4). Over time and across sites, BMI and WC increased linearly. The less urbanised sites showed a faster increase than more urbanised sites, and this was also observed after sex stratification. Overall, the fastest increase was found for WC compared with BMI. Compared with Lima, the fastest increase in WC was in rural Puno (coefficient=0.73, P<0.001), followed by urban Puno (coefficient=0.59, P=0.001) and Tumbes (coefficient=0.22, P=0.088).ConclusionsThere was a linear increase in BMI and WC across study sites, with the greatest increase in less urbanised areas. The ongoing urbanisation process, common to Peru and other low/middle-income countries, is accompanied by different trajectories of increasing obesity-related markers.

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