Continuous and confusing changes to loadshedding schedules have brought with them a range of inconveniences and frustration for all South Africans.
Not only do the rolling power cuts affect people’s mental health, they also have serious effects on the nation’s eating habits.
As the country continues with stage-four loadshedding, Eskom announced on Tuesday that power cuts will be escalated to stage five from 5pm on Wednesday until Friday morning.
This means an increase in fast-food consumption for many families that cannot prepare fresh and healthy meals.
Zitandile Mfono, a dietitian and spokesperson for Association for Dietetics in SA, said people’s health will take a knock from the consumption of takeaways.
“It’s not surprising that people are opting for more convenience food in these difficult circumstances,” Mfono said.
“However, this means an increase in high fat, high salt and high-sugar foods in one’s diet.
“With the country’s high rates of obesity and type-two diabetes, these are the kind of dietary changes our nation cannot afford.
“It’s a pity that the positive home-cooking trend we saw during Covid-19 lockdowns is now being reversed due to the frequency of loadshedding during meal-preparation times.
“It is a challenge for working parents to prepare healthy meals due to their busy lives, and now they must contend with power outages just as they get home from work.”
Another dietician, Chanelle Retief, suggested ways that can help people stay focused on their families’ health despite of the hardships of loadshedding.
“We need to adapt to loadshedding as best as we can,” Retief said.
“While ordering take-away meals can be a quick fix for a hungry family, the longer-term impacts on our health and our pockets mean this is not a sustainable solution.”
Retief advised:
- Invest in an inexpensive gas stove: You don’t have to go out and replace your oven with a gas alternative. Rather invest in a small two-plate gas stove to use when cooking.
- Focus on salad-based meals: Add a few more tasty salad recipes to your repertoire. When making a salad for lunch or dinner, always try to add a protein source to it by including left-over cooked chicken or meats, lentils or beans, eggs or cheeses.
- Plan ahead and in detail: It makes it easier to manage the impact of loadshedding on meals if you plan your meal preparation.
- Make healthier choices when ordering: If you have no choice and you need to buy take-aways, keep the plate model in mind, that is 50% of your plate should be veggies, 25% should be healthy carbs and 25% should be lean protein.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here
