SA kids get too many fizzy drinks

One- and two-year-old children living in South African cities are consuming more fizzy sweetened beverages than they are milk.

This is according to the organisers of The World Nutrition Congress 2016 being held in Cape Town this week which hopes to tackle obesity and child nutrition.

Various studies over the past decade show that we have the highest rate of obesity in Africa, while fizzy sweetened beverages are now the third most commonly consumed food or drink item among very young urban South African children (aged 12 to 24 months), and are being consumed at a rate higher than milk, the event organisers say.

Mncedisi Twala, of Abemi Grassroots Movement in Cape Town, said: “Most poor people can’t get to healthy food because they don’t have the means, and diseases like TB are a result.” – TMG Digital