Table 4 Summary of supportive programs for addressing unhealthy diet, smoking and physical inactivity
Risk factors | Programs | Description | Coverage | Target population | Key findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tobacco use | National Quit Line / National Council Against Smoking | A telephonic advice service on how to quit smoking is provided during office hours. They can also post a personal guide to quitting. | National | Smokers | Not evaluated |
CANSA’s eKick Butt program | Online smoking cessation program through which a series of emails, surveys and downloads guide and mentor a person. This program supplies a series of handy tools to help to quit for good. | National | Smokers | Not evaluated | |
Smokenders | Over a period of six weeks participants attend six weekly group meetings lasting 2 h each. It consists of One-on-one counselling. | Cape Town, Pretoria and Johannesburg | Smokers | Not evaluated | |
Physical inactivity | Move for Health Day | Annual campaign conducted on the 10th of May led by the Department of Sports and Recreation in collaboration with the DOH. Encouraging cost effective physical activities such as walking, regular exercise and other extramural activities. | National | Young and old | No evaluation conducted |
National recreational day | An annual campaign conducted the 1st Friday of October since 2014. The campaign targets all Citizens to be physically active. | National | Young and old | No evaluation conducted | |
Big walk Day | Annual based initiative led by the Department of Sports and Recreation. The purpose of the day is to promote participation in sport and recreation. | National | Young and old | Started 2012, implemented in all provincial capital cities since 2015. Grown from less than 2000 participants to 30,000 in 2017 | |
Western Cape on Wellness (WOW!) | A health promotion program designed by the Western Cape Provincial Government Department of Health to address modifiable risk factors associated with NCDs. The WoW! Initiative incorporates a novel transversal partner approach, involving “health champions”, to help group members activate healthy lifestyles, in workplace, school and community settings. | Western Cape Province | Multi-sectoral (WCP, Universities and NGOs) | Over 80% presenting at baseline were either overweight or obese, over 50% from schools and community groups were hypertensive, and less than 1 in 4 were meeting international recommendations for physical activity (> = 150 min/week). Improvements were seen in systolic and diastolic blood pressure at 3 months, and systolic blood pressure at 6 months; the proportion of members presenting with hypertension at 3 months was halved. Improvements in self-reported healthy eating, physical activity, quality of life, and general health status, and reductions in waist circumference at 6 months, and in time spent sitting. Self-reported smoking changed from 10% at baseline to 0% at 6 months. | |
Unhealthy diet / nutrition | National School Nutrition Program | The program provides one nutritious meal to all learners in poorer primary and secondary schools. It also teaches learners and parents on ways of living a healthy lifestyle and promoting development of school vegetable gardens. | National | Schools learners and teachers | The program provides meals to > 9 million children in public schools. |
Integrated nutrition program | Multi-sectorial program, which includes the Departments of Health, Social Development and Agriculture. | National | Children | No evaluation conducted | |
Healthy Food -Discovery Health | Benefit to members of Discovery (private health insurance company) whereby members receive up to 25% cash back on healthy food purchases. | National | Discovery members | Participation associated with more consumption of healthy food (fruits/vegetables and wholegrain foods) and less consumption of unhealthy food (high sugar/salt foods, fried foods, processed meats, and fast-food). | |
Making the Difference through Nutrition | The program combines outcomes-based education, interactive classroom activities and informative parent workshops, which positively influence the lifestyles and well-being of young learners and their communities. One of the primary focuses of this initiative is to teach learners not only the importance of regular physical activity, but also how to become more physically active in a fun, creative and sustainable manner. | Some provinces | Woolworths | Woolworths and SSISA have produced a DVD to educate children, caregivers, parents and teachers about how to make physical activity an integral part of the lives of children. In the DVD the presenters give valuable insights into the extensive benefits of physical activity, as well as practical advice on how to improve children’s physical activity levels at home and at school. The 1 km Health Track and the dynamic group dance (Dance for Fun), provide two inspiring examples of how exercise can be accessible and fun | |
Salt watch Campaign | Salt Watch is a mass-media campaign to increase public awareness related to the association between a high salt intake, blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, and to highlight the need to reduce discretionary salt intake. Television and radio advertisements aimed at strengthening the advertisement message and providing additional information and education materials regarding salt reduction. | Some provinces (KZN, Gauteng & EC) | Heart and Stroke foundation | 550 women participated in the baseline study and 477 in the follow-up survey. Knowledge, attitudes and behavior change occurred with a significant move towards considering and initiating reduced salt consumption. Post intervention, more participants reported that they were taking steps to control salt intake (38% increased to 59.5%, p < 0.0001). In particular, adding salt while cooking and at the table occurred significantly less frequently. |