African lifespan and lifestyle issues
Demetre Labadarios
Chairman: UNAW, and Head: Department of Human Nutrition University of Stellenbosch Tygerberg, W Cape
André Oelofse
Convenor: UANW, and Medical Research Council Tygerberg, W Cape

S A J Clin Nutr 2000 February Vol 13 No 1

Supplement
Owing to the high rate of urbanisation worldwide, the percentage of marginalised people in cities is constantly on the increase. South Africa is also faced with the difficult challenge of ever-expanding urban communities. Many of these people live in unacceptable conditions, where poverty and malnutrition coexist. In the past much attention was paid to addressing the high prevalence of undernutrition found in rural populations, and many successful interventions have led to a worldwide reduction in child mortality and the prevalence of undernutrition in these areas. However, the alleviation of urban malnutrition poses new and challenging problems. In these urban areas one invariably finds the double burden of nutritional disorders, namely those of under- and over -nutrition. The latter is, of course, known to be associated with the so-called chronic degenerative diseases of lifestyle and includes cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes and certain cancers. Because under- and over-nutrition coexist more frequently in urban environments, the solutions to these problems are often more difficult than for those in the rural areas owing, inter alia, to a greater heterogeneity and higher physical density of such problems, as well as our relative inexperience in dealing successfully with these problems.

The International Life Sciences Institute, South African Branch (ILSI South Africa) together with the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS) and its South African affiliates, namely the Association for Dietetics in South Africa (ADSA), the Nutrition Society of Southern Africa (NSSA) and the South African Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (SASPEN), recognising the complexity of the ever-increasing health implications of urbanisation, organised an Urban Nutrition Action Workshop (UNAW) with the theme ‘Lifespan and lifestyle issues for Africa’. The workshop (5 - 7 March 1999) was held before the International Vitamin A Consultative Group (IVACG) Congress held in Durban, South Africa. The objectives of this workshop were firstly to exchange views, thoughts and available data with experts from the international nutrition community, and secondly to impart certain practical skills to delegates as regards appropriate management techniques for the successful design and implementation of future intervention programmes in societies in transition.

In meeting the first objective, selected keynote speakers from Indonesia, Australia, Guatamala and South Africa gave an overview, in plenary sessions, of current issues pertaining to the nutritional status of recently urbanised city dwellers across the human lifespan. These keynote lectures form the first part of this supplement. In terms of the second objective, UNAW delegates were divided into working groups and were equipped with management techniques used in the ZOPP(Ziel Orientierte Projekt Planung (Objective Orientated Project Planning)) and SHARP(Structured Holistic Approach for Research Planning) methodologies. The working groups discussed and analysed various situations in a structured way in order to formulate appropriate research or interventions. The resulting proposals were then discussed in a plenary session during the final stage of the workshop. Initiatives to address relevant nutritional problems in a multidisciplinary context were promoted. The proceedings and outcomes of the working groups were minuted and form the second part of this supplement. The outcome of both the SHARP and ZOPP methodologies is preceded by an editorial comment that reflects the experience of one of the experienced participants from each working group. It was indeed gratifying that the consensus of all participants was that the workshop aided them in formulating new approaches to their own unique research questions pertaining to their specific research environment.

Finally, it is hereby gratefully acknowledged that the UNAW workshop and the publication of its proceedings was made possible mainly by the financial support of ILSI South Africa. Additional support, in alphabetical order, was receive from: the Foundation for Research Development, Kellogg’s, the Medical Research Council’s WHO Collaborating Centre on Diseases of Lifestyle, Nestlé, Pioneer Foods and Unifoods. The excellent support of Dr L Bourne of the Medical Research Council and Professor K Charlton of the Nutrition and Dietetics Unit of the University of Cape Town, as members of the UNAW Organising Committee, is also gratefully acknowledged. Of course the UNAW workshop would not have been successful without the excellent input from overseas and local speakers, the workshop facilitators and the delegates themselves.

Last updated: 17-Feb-2004