Department of Life and Consumer Sciences

Dr B vd Westhuizen

College of Agriculture & Environmental Sciences
School of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Department: Life and Consumer Sciences
Senior Lecturer
E-mail: vdwesb1@unisa.ac.za

Expertise

  • Food environments
  • Public health nutrition
  • Salt reduction strategies

Qualifications

  • B.Sc. in Biological Sciences - North-West University
  • Honors Bachelors of Science in Nutrition - North-West University
  • M.Sc. in Nutrition - North-West University
  • Ph.D in Nutrition - North-West University

Fields of academic interests

Teaching interest:

  • Nutrition
  • Public Health Nutrition

Research interest:

  • Public health sodium reduction strategies
  • Nutrition Leadership development in Africa
  • Obesogenic Food environments

Journal articles

  • Korff, M., Wicks, M., van Zyl, T. and van der Westhuizen, B. The South African Sodium Regulation (R214): Does it make provision for processed foods frequently consumed by young children?. South African Journal of Child Health14(1), pp.45-49. 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.7196/SAJCH.2020.v14i1.1671
  • van der Westhuizen B, Schutte A, Gafane-Matemane L, Kruger R. Left ventricular mass relates to 24-hour sodium excretion in young masked hypertensive South African adults: The African-PREDICT study. International Journal of Cardiology, 2019 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2018.11.116
  • Strauss, M., Smith, W., Kruger, R., van der Westhuizen, B. and Schutte, A.E. Large artery stiffness is associated with salt intake in young healthy black but not white adults: the African-PREDICT study. European Journal of Nutrition, 57 (7): 2649–26562018. 2018 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-018-1791-1
  • Crouch S, Ware L, Gafane-Matemane L, Kruger H, Van Zyl T, Van der Westhuizen B, and Schutte A. Dietary sodium intake and its relationship to adiposity in young black and white adults: The African-PREDICT study. Journal of Clinical Hypertension2018. DOI:10.1111/jch.13329
  • Swanepoel B, Schutte AE, Cockeran M, Steyn K and Wentzel-Viljoen E. Monitoring the South African population’s salt intake: spot urine versus 24-hour urine. Public Health Nutrition2018 10:1-9, doi: 10.1017/S1368980017002683
  • Peters S, Dunford E, Ware L, Harris T, Walker A, Wicks M, Van Zyl T, Swanepoel B, Charlton K, Woodward M, Webster J and Neal B. The sodium content of processed foods in South Africa: a baseline assessment 
  • Swanepoel B, Malan L, Myburgh HP, Schutte AE, Steyn K and Wentzel-Viljoen E. Sodium content of foodstuffs included in the sodium reduction regulation of South Africa. Food Composition and Analysis. 201763, 73-78, doi: 10.1016/j.jfca.2017.07.040
  • Ware LJ, Swanepoel B and Schutte AE. Urinary sodium-to-potassium ratio: it may be SMART, but is it easy? Letter to the editor, Public Health Nutrition2016, doi:10.1017/S1368980016002731.
  • Swanepoel B, Schutte AE, Cockeran M, Steyn K and Wentzel-Viljoen E. Sodium and potassium intake in South Africa: An evaluation of 24-hour urine collection in a white, black and Indian population. Journal of the American Society of Hypertension2016 10 (11): 829 – 837
  • Nienaber-Rousseau C, Swanepoel B, Dolman RC, Pieters M, Conradie KR, Towers GW. Interactions between C-Reactive Protein Genotypes with Markers of Nutritional Status in Relation to Inflammation. Nutrients20146(11), 5034-5050. doi:10.3390/nu6115034.