As World Heart Day approaches, PAN South Africa highlights evidence-based nutrition and culinary medicine as tools for prevention.
More than 1 million people died from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the WHO African Region in 2019, according to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates. CVD accounted for approximately 1.09 million deaths, making it the largest contributor to NCD deaths in the region.
Ahead of World Heart Day on 29 September, the Physicians Association for Nutrition (PAN) South Africa is highlighting the role of evidence-based nutrition in cardiovascular disease prevention and the need to equip healthcare professionals with practical skills to help patients turn nutrition advice into everyday food choices.
The 2026 World Heart Day campaign, led by the World Heart Federation under the theme “Don’t Miss a Beat,” calls attention to recognising the signs and symptoms of CVD, protecting heart health and demanding action to address the world’s leading cause of death.
“Heart health cannot be addressed through medicines alone. Prevention also requires healthcare professionals to be equipped to have meaningful, evidence-based conversations about nutrition and lifestyle with their patients,” says Dr Heinrich Volmink, Chief Operating Officer of PAN South Africa.
The food-health connection
Across the WHO African Region, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, tobacco use and harmful use of alcohol are among the major behavioural risk factors associated with CVD. High blood pressure, high blood sugar, overweight, and obesity also contribute substantially to cardiovascular risk.
The wider NCD burden is growing. NCDs accounted for 37% of all deaths in the WHO African Region in 2019, up from 24% in 2000, while more than 1.6 million people die prematurely from NCDs each year in the region.
Diet is therefore an important part of prevention. WHO identifies unhealthy dietary patterns, including excessive intake of sodium, sugars and unhealthy fats, alongside insufficient consumption of foods such as fruits, vegetables and dietary fibre, as modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease and other NCDs.
“Nutrition is one of the areas where prevention can become practical,” says Dr Volmink. “The question is not simply whether people know that nutrition matters. It is whether healthcare professionals have the knowledge and practical skills to help people turn evidence into realistic meals and sustainable dietary habits.”
From nutrition knowledge to the kitchen
This is where culinary medicine can help bridge the gap between nutrition science and practical application.
Culinary medicine combines nutrition education with hands-on food preparation and cooking experiences. For healthcare professionals and students, it can provide a practical way to understand how nutrition recommendations can be translated into realistic meals, culturally relevant, and achievable.
A scoping review of 24 culinary-medicine interventions in medical education found promising improvements in students’ nutrition knowledge, practical skills and confidence in nutrition counselling, while noting that the evidence base is still developing and programmes vary considerably.
PAN South Africa is applying this practical approach through the Green Food Experience (GFE), which has engaged students at African universities through nutrition education, practical activities and opportunities to explore food and health beyond the traditional classroom.
As African countries face a growing burden of NCDs, strengthening nutrition competencies among future healthcare professionals can help ensure prevention is considered alongside diagnosis and treatment.
Food for the Heart
PAN South Africa is participating in PAN International’s 2026 Food for the Heart campaign, running across PAN’s national and regional offices throughout the year under the theme: Food for the Heart: Protecting heart health through evidence-based nutrition.
The campaign highlights evidence-based nutrition as a practical way to support heart health, reduce risk and improve outcomes. It also emphasises that nutrition supports prevention and care alongside medical treatment, not instead of it.
Throughout the campaign, PAN has shared heart-health recipes, culinary-medicine resources, evidence-based fact sheets, webinars for healthcare professionals and students, and practical awareness content designed to help translate nutrition science into action.
A practical World Heart Day activity
To commemorate World Heart Day on 29 September, as part of the wider Food for the Heart campaign, PAN International will host an interactive culinary-medicine cooking class with Claudia Friedrich, chef, sustainable food coach and Pulse Ambassador.
The session will demonstrate how pulses such as beans, lentils and chickpeas can be incorporated into fibre- and protein-rich meals, showing how culinary medicine can turn evidence-based nutrition into practical and appealing food.
Food for the Heart: Culinary Medicine Cooking Class
Date: 29 September 2026
Time: 11:00–12:00 SAST
Platform: Zoom
Registration: https://panco.mn.co/events/world-heart-day-cook-along-with-claudia-friedrich?instance_index=20260929t090000z
The cooking class is one component of the year-long Food for the Heart campaign, rather than a standalone World Heart Day initiative.
“World Heart Day gives us an important opportunity to draw attention to cardiovascular disease, but prevention needs to continue beyond a single day,” says Dr Volmink. “Strengthening nutrition education and introducing practical approaches such as culinary medicine can help equip healthcare professionals with tools to support better conversations about food, prevention and patient care.”
