With the help of a simple FREE app, South Africans can now choose healthier meals when eating out, AND be rewarded for it.  Leading nutritional solutions company, CHOW offers a restaurant programme available in over 300 restaurant outlets nationwide, that makes choosing healthier meals easy for consumers, this festive season.      

The serious side

South Africa is a nation in transition with people increasingly looking for convenience meals, fast foods and out-of-home dining, one of the consequences of rapid urbanisation.  In the most recent national population health survey, almost half of adult South Africans reported that they eat outside of the home with almost a third doing so on a weekly basis.1 This trend is not confined to adults, with 1 in 3 South African adolescents eating out 2 – 3 times per week.2    Increasing intakes of fat, sugar and salt, accompanied by a decline in fruit, vegetables and fibre-rich foods have played a part in the rising obesity, diabetes and hypertension rates in South Africa.  A multi-strategy approach is required to curb the rising prevalence of these non-communicable diseases in South Africa.  The National Department of Health’s (NDoH) Strategy for the prevention and control of obesity in South Africa acknowledges that no stand-alone approach is likely to succeed and recommends action through policy and environmental change.3 The obesity strategy recognises CHOW as a cog in the wheel to create an enabling environment where healthy food choices are accessible and available when dining out.  

Introducing the CHOW solution

CHOW owner and registered dietitian, Mr Stefan van der Merwe, recognised the need to provide the public with an exciting and innovative solution to eating out, without compromising on health.  “We have to be realistic – in today’s fast-paced world, people want convenience and eating out, is here to stay.  Through the CHOW programme we aim to take the guesswork out of choosing a healthy meal and aim to make eating out a possibility that can fit within everyday healthy habits. We further aim to play our part in driving restaurants and fast food establishments to provide healthier meal options”, explains Mr van der Merwe. The CHOW programme accredits healthy meals in restaurants, based on a range of guidelines and criteria developed and administered by a team of registered dietitians.  Once a meal has been accredited, it is allowed to showcase the CHOW mark, an official endorsement approved by the NDoH.  Meals showcasing the CHOW mark has to include beneficial food groups such as vegetables, wholegrain carbohydrates, healthy fats, lean or plant protein or dairy.  In addition, limits are set for certain nutrients including total kilojoules, saturated fat and sugar. The CHOW programme is further integrated with a mobile application, free for download, which essentially acts as a national healthy eating directory.  Making use of GPS tracking, when opening the app, nearby CHOW accredited restaurants, meals and full nutritional information is just a tap or a click away.   

Get rewarded for making healthy choices

An important step in changing consumer behaviour towards the healthy, is being rewarded for it.  At CHOW, incentivising healthy choices is a key strategy to keep individuals engaged in the process in order to entrench healthy eating as a daily habit. When consumers order a CHOW accredited meal they will earn CHOW bucks which can be used in exchange for vouchers from participating healthy partners as well as earn loyalty points from leading loyalty programmes. 

Driving change and transparency in the food industry 

CHOW is on a mission to change the way consumers choose meals when eating out, hoping to increase consumer demand for healthier options and inevitably driving change within the food industry.  Spur Marketing Manager, Mr Etienne Ralphs, is proud to be a part of this changing dynamic: “We were one of the first restaurants to offer and showcase healthier menu options to our customers.  We are a family restaurant and one of the biggest national franchises in South Africa, so we feel a strong commitment to play our part in offering healthy choices – CHOW has made this process easy, accessible and appealing”.  CHOW strives towards a collaborative approach with participating retailers, with CHOW dietitians appointed to each and every restaurant to support with meal analyses and accreditation, menu development and auditing as well as general nutrition and health support.   Now more than ever, it is vitally important to find innovative ways to meet consumers where they are, providing solutions rather than restrictions, utilising technology to drive healthy behaviours and to take action to support the health of South Africans.

For more information and to download the CHOW mobile app visit www.chowsolutions.com

Shisana O, Labadarios D, Rehle T, Simbayi L, Zuma K, Dhansay A, Reddy P, Parker W, Hoosain E, Naidoo P, Hongoro C, Mchiza Z, Steyn NP, Dwane N, Makoae M, Maluleke T, Ramlagan S, Zungu N, Evans MG, Jacobs L, Faber M, & the SANHANES-1 Team (2014) South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (SANHANES-1): 2014 Edition. Cape Town: HSRC Press Feeley A, Musenge E, Pettifor JM, Norris SA. Investigation into longitudinal dietary behaviours and household socio-economic indicators and their association with BMI Z-score and fat mass in South African adolescents: The Birth to Twenty (Bt20) cohort. Public Health Nutrition: 2012; 16(4): 693–703.  National Department of Health. Strategy for the prevention and control of obesity in South Africa. 2015. https://www.health-e.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/National-Strategy-for-prevention-and-Control-of-Obesity-4-August-latest.pdf        

For more information or to arrange interviews contact: Chow Nutritional Solutions Stefan van der Merwe This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 031 564 1001 078 271 3747                       

About CHOW (Choose Healthy Options Wisely)
CHOW Nutritional Solutions Pty (Ltd) is a specialist nutrition solutions and nutrition technology company. CHOW is run & managed by experts in the field of nutrition and dietetics. The focus at CHOW is to provide South Africans with practical approaches to make healthy choices easier and to modify dietary behaviour in the process. CHOW offers accreditation and nutritional solutions services to restaurants and restaurant groups, corporate canteens, retailers, school and work canteens and government organisations.