The Bonteheuwel Walking Ladies (BWL) spoke to the community about how to prevent strokes, heart attacks and other diseases of lifestyle, at the Bonteheuwel Community Centre on Wednesday November 2.
Ten people die from a stroke in South Africa every hour, and 13% of deaths globally are because of high blood pressure, but 80% of strokes can be prevented, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of South Africa.
BWL chairwoman Soraya Salie said many residents of Bonteheuwel had chronic ailments such as high blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes because they led an unhealthy lifestyle.
It was important to create awareness about healthy living and encourage people to exercise and eat a balanced diet, she said. “Many of our members needed to hear this information because many of them have family members who had a stroke or heart attack.”
The BWL, which has about 150 members, holds exercise sessions every Monday and Tuesday at the Bonteheuwel Community Centre.
“The focus is to do it in a dancing beat so you don’t even feel the exercise,” Ms Salie said, adding that many of their members grew their own food to eat healthy and save money.
She said that it was important to have regular health checks and take one’s blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol counts on a monthly basis.
“These are important things to check. We have been changing mindsets to live healthier,” she said.
“Wellness of the mind is so important as well. If your mind is not healthy, your body won’t be either. We always finish off with breathing techniques, which our members really need and enjoy learning. People in Bonteheuwel need to start living healthier.”
The 2018 WesternCape on Wellness (WoW!) champion, Carmen Steyn, who is also a BWL member, said WoW!, a provincial government initiative, promoted healthy eating, gym, mental health and physical activities. Eating healthy went hand in hand with exercise, and exercise gave one an energy boost, she said.
“A lot of residents are suffering from heart conditions. Diabetes, and high blood pressure are the main diseases in the community. Many of their families died of strokes and heart attacks, and many of them are chronic patients. Our lifestyle really needs to change. We are so used to eating big, unhealthy plates of food,” she said.