Fatter and fatter: South Africa’s rise in body mass index

  • Alan G. Morris University of Cape Town

Author Biography

Alan G. Morris, University of Cape Town
Alan Morris (Archaeology, Palaeontology and History of Science) is professor in the Department of Human Biology at the University of CapeTown. A Canadian by birth and upbringing, he has an undergraduate degree in biology from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, and a Ph.D. from the University of the Witwatersrand. Morris has published extensively on the origin of anatomically modern humans, and the Later Stone Age, Iron Age and historic populations of Malawi, Namibia and South Africa. He has an additional interest in South African history and has published on the history of race classification; the history of physical anthropology in South Africa; and on the Canadian involvement in the Anglo-Boer War.

References

1. Finucane MM, Stevens GA, Cowan MJ, et al. National, regional, and global trends in body-mass index since 1980: Systematic analysis of health examination surveys and epidemiological studies with 960 country-years and 9.1 million participants. Lancet. 2011;377:557–567. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)62037-5

2. Mollentze WF. Obesity in South Africa: A call for action. JEMDSA. 2006;11(2):44–45.

3. Monyeki KD, Monyeki MA, Brits SJ, Kemper HCG, Makgae PJ. Development and tracking of body mass index from preschool age into adolescence in rural South African children: Ellisras longitudinal growth and health study. J Health Popul Nutr. 2008;26(4):405–417. PMid:19069619, PMCid:2740693

4. Steyn K, Fourie JM. Heart disease in South Africa: Media data document. Pretoria: Medical Research Council; 2007.

5. Hanrahan CF, Golub JE, Mohapi L, et al. Body mass index and risk of tuberculosis and death. AIDS. 2010;10:1501–1508. doi:10.1097/QAD.0b013e32833a2a4a, PMid:20505496
Published
2011-03-24
Issue
Vol 107 No 3/4 (2011): South African Journal of Science
Section
News and Views