HealthyFood’„¢ is a programme intended to promote healthy eating amongst South Africans, by giving members a discount on healthy foods.

Discovery has published a catalogue identifying 6 000 healthy options on offer in Pick n Pay supermarkets. Discovery Vital customers who purchase these products are rewarded accordingly, in the form of up to 25 percent discounts.

‘€œThis pioneering initiative makes healthy food choices easier, more affordable and even more rewarding for consumers,’€ says Discovery Vitality’€™s publicity material.

This initiative follows a survey carried out by Discovery Vitality, which revealed that the main obstacle to improving the diet of South Africans is the prohibitive cost of healthy food.

Whilst 98% of respondents said that they did not consider healthy food to be ‘€˜boring’€™, 62% said that they believed healthy food to be more expensive.

‘€œPrice is a real barrier when buying food,’€ said Dr Craig Nossel, head of Vitality Wellness at Discovery. ‘€œFrom January 2005 until June 2008, maize prices almost tripled, wheat prices increased 127%, soybean oil went up by 192% and rice prices increased 170%.’€

The consequence of this, Nossel suggests, is a global move towards eating fast food which is not only convenient but, crucially, cheap.

This is a particular concern in South Africa, where 20% of males and 26% of females are overweight, with 9% of males and 30% of females counting as obese. The World Health Organisation (WHO) state that over 60% of deaths worldwide result from peoples’€™ lifestyle choices.

‘€œNon-communicable chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, stroke and diabetes are among the top 10 causes of death in our country,’€ says Dr Nossel. ‘€œIn South Africa obesity rates amongst children and adults are at an all time high with low levels of physical activity further fuelling the spread of chronic lifestyle diseases.’€

The mission of HealthyFood’„¢ is, therefore, to try and combat the dual problem of increasing obesity and increasing food prices.

Initiative members can save up to 25% on over 6 000 HealthyFood’„¢ products at Pick n Pay. This includes up to 15% cash back, with the possibility of increasing savings up to 25% by completing a personal health review on www.discovery.co.za.

Members simply have to swipe their VISA DiscoveryCard or Vitality HealthyFood’„¢ card at a Pick n Pay store, before the cashier rings up their purchases, and the HealthyFood’„¢ saving is paid directly into a nominated bank account.

Cash back is available up to a maximum of R2 000 (for single members) or R4 000 (for family memberships) spent on HealthyFood’„¢ a month. The amount on which you can claim HealthyFood’„¢ cash back is also dictated by the number of Vitality points a member has earned in the past year.

According to Dr Nossel, ‘€œThe aim of the benefit is to help make healthier choices easier choices.’€

Discovery Vitality has an advisory nutrition panel, including Professor Tim Noakes, Discovery Health Professor of the UCT/MRC Research unit for Exercise Science and Sports medicine; Professor Vicki Lambert, a UCT sports scientist and Medical Research Council consultant on Chronic Diseases of Lifestyle; and Professor Barry Popkin of the Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina.

The panel defines a healthy food as ‘€˜a food that is nutrient-rich, that is low in saturated fat, added sugars, sodium and cholesterol, and devoid of trans fatty acids. These foods are characteristically good sources of vitamins, minerals and sometimes fibre, and usually have a low calorie-density. They are therefore believed to have health promoting properties’€™.

The benefit is available to all Discovery Vitality members, and can be activated online ‘€“ members are then sent a catalogue helping them to make the healthiest food and beverage choices in Pick n Pay stores.