The daily junk food diet of taxi drivers is raising their risks of serious lifestyle diseases, according to a University of the Western Cape PhD graduate, whose thesis focused on metabolic syndrome (MetS) – a variety of health conditions that occur together, increasing the risk of a stroke, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
The conditions include increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels, found Machoene Derrick Sekgala, who has now completed his Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health at the School of Public Health, Faculty of Community and Health Sciences.
His study concluded that of the 235 Cape Town taxi drivers surveyed from five ranks, 73.5% eat – on a daily basis – takeaways that include pizza, burgers, chicken and fish parcels, posing risks to their health, reports Weekend Argus.
“These results are corroborated by both national and international literature showing that individuals in long-distance driving occupations, including taxi drivers, have a higher likelihood of developing metabolic disorders than industrial and office workers,” said Sekgala.
“In addition, these studies identified age, driving duration, and driving experience as factors accelerating the onset of these metabolic diseases.”
Additionally, socio-demographic factors like age and years of driving are significantly associated with MetS risk and its components.
“Moreover, lifestyle factors such as less sleep, smoking alcohol, sugar-sweetened beverages, spending money on street food, and being sedentary, all affected the minibus taxi drivers’ metabolic health. These results have significant public health implications, as policymakers need to adopt evidence-based strategies to encourage a healthy lifestyle among South African men, especially minibus taxi drivers.”
The other component of Sekgala’s research was for referral.
“When I conduct the data collection or during the measurement, especially the higher blood pressure and diabetes, and I find abnormal values, I will give them referral letters and recommend they see a doctor for further investigations,” he said.
Makhosandile Tumana, the public relations officer at Santaco Western Cape, said while he was concerned with the findings of the research, issues like high blood pressure were not solely exclusive to the taxi fraternity.
Weekend Argus PressReader article – Taxi driver food choices unhealthy – research (Open access)
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