Gauteng’s youth face rising high blood pressure as obesity soars

A worrying trend is growing in Gauteng of younger people developing high blood pressure, a condition that was once considered an “older person’s disease”. The Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) has raised concern that rising obesity in the province is fuelling diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), strokes, and heart disease. According to recent statistics, about half of South African adults are overweight, with 23% being overweight and 27% being obese.

The department said that in an urban province like Gauteng, residents are working long hours, living sedentary lifestyles, doing limited physical activity and increasing consumption of processed foods, coupled with alcohol and tobacco use. GDoH said this lifestyle is accelerating the rise of chronic illness and contributing to the earlier onset of diseases. Gauteng recorded more than 67 000 newly detected cases of hypertension in the past 12 months.

These cases include over 25 000 among adults aged 18 to 44 and approximately 42 000 among those aged 45 years and older. “This reflects a worrying trend of younger people developing high blood pressure, a condition previously more common among older adults,” the department said in a statement as South Africa commemorated Healthy Lifestyle Awareness Day on Friday. During the same period, more than 8.7 million adults were screened for hypertension across the province.

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GDoH said in Gauteng, the prevalence of diabetes is currently around 12%. The department is still worried that many people are still undiagnosed and at risk of major complications like stroke, heart disease, kidney failure, blindness, and amputations. This is even though the province has surpassed the target of 65%, with a 67% diabetes control rate among patients undergoing treatment.

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