The Hottentot Venus would no doubt have disputed the claim, but an authority on obesity has blamed the rising number of overweight black women in South Africa on Aids. The claim was made yesterday by Tessa van der Merwe of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, who estimated that about one in three black South African women was seriously overweight.
The factors she blamed it on included:
· HIV-Aids, which has created fears among black women that if they are seen to be losing weight it will be assumed they have the disease
· The tribal belief that fatness reflects wealth
· Violent crime, which makes it difficult to get enough out-of-doors exercise
The generously proportioned Saartjie Baartman - also known as the Hottentot Venus - was carted around Europe in the 19th century as a circus freak before dying there. Her remains were found in a French museum and campaigners persuaded former French president Franзois Mitterrand to allow her to return home in 1994. She has become an icon of the feminist community and a symbol of European colonial attitudes towards Africa long before the advent of Aids and present levels of crime.
Ms van der Merwe said all races suffered a high level of weight problems in South Africa.
"Regretfully, there is also a perception that if a black woman is thin, she might have HIV/Aids or that her husband can't afford to feed her well," she said.
Ms van der Merwe said regular, high intensity exercise routines were not possible for many. "There is the reality - it simply isn't safe to walk around," she said.
Ms van der Merwe, who heads South Africa's first obesity clinic, said weight was causing health problems such as heart disease, hypertension and diabetes.
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