The Ghanaian diet is becoming more westernized and generally suboptimal, a needs assessment study conducted by a team from the University of Ghana’s School of Public Health, has revealed.
This means that Ghanaians are now consuming diets that look like Western countries, the team leader, who is also a lecturer at the University of Ghana’s School of Public Health, Professor Richmond Aryeetey, explained.
He said that instead of the traditional food of maize and other local foods, Ghanaians are now eating more rice, and baked and fried foods associated with Western countries.
Prof Aryeetey said the implication for the country is that because westernized food is associated with the risk of overweight, obesity and non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, heart disease, diabetes and some cancers, people who consume it are at risk of developing diseases. mentioned.
“It seems that our diet has become mainly rice, meat and fish. We also tend to eat street food. In all age groups, we see that we do not eat a variety of diets,” he said.
A needs assessment has been done as part of putting together dietary guidelines for the country.
What Are the Ghanaian Food-Based Dietary Guidelines?
Known as the Ghana Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (GFDG), the document educates consumers about a healthy diet and provides direction for programs and policies aimed at ensuring a healthy diet for all.
The Dietary Guidelines provide practical recommendations on what diets are available and affordable in a country. Rather it is a guideline for preventing ill health and promoting optimal human development.
This is the first time Ghana has developed food-based dietary guidelines and makes it the fourth country in West Africa and the eighth in Africa to have such dietary guidelines. The Ghanaian Food-Based Dietary Guidelines have been designed to meet the needs of the Ghanaian population aged five years and above.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic after the launch of the guidelines in Accra last Wednesday, Prof. Aryeetey cited the results of a needs assessment that was conducted, and said that the diet expected to promote optimal health and development was not at recommended levels when it existed. there is also insufficient frequency, quantity and variety of fruit and vegetable intake as well as suboptimal intake of legumes and nuts in the diet of Ghanaians.
Describing these components as important for a healthy diet, Prof. Aryeetey further disclosed that studies conducted in the city of Accra and in the Volta Region show that there is a high level of access and consumption of sugary drinks, fried foods and processed cereals in the country. .
Providing insight into the compilation of the content of the guidelines, Prof Aryeetey said that they looked at the country’s food system, what food is produced in different countries, the country’s food access, availability, safety issues, food environment, dietary consumption, government strategies to achieve diversity -various groups and also check alcohol intake.
He said people are eating food that a few years ago they wouldn’t eat, pointing out that international fast food chains are part of the country’s food ecosystem and driven by the lifestyle of Ghanaians.
They called for policies on the procurement of healthier diets, food safety and security in the marketing system.
They suggest that these guidelines should guide individual choices as well as population-level interventions such as school feeding and other institutional food-based interventions.
Summary of recommendations
Summarizing the recommendations of the study, the head of the team, Paulina Addy, said that the study recommends that Ghanaians should consume at least two portions of fruits per day, especially those that are in season, adding that they can be taken as part of the main meal or as snack.
He said as much as possible they should eat fresh fruits instead of processed where there is a tendency to add sugar to the process.
Regarding vegetables, he said that a variety of vegetables should be eaten every day and for those that should be cooked, do not cook them, while the additives added to some vegetables should be reduced.
Touching on nuts and cereals, he said that waakye and ‘red red’ are very good foods, but they are often covered in fat that affects the health of consumers.
Therefore, he asked to reduce the addition of oil to the food.
For those who suffer from bad effects such as ‘gas’ and bloating after eating these foods, they recommend adding ginger or turmeric to reduce the bloating they experience.
Importance of dietary guidelines
Former Nutrition Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization, Prof. Anna Lartey, explained that it is important for countries to have dietary guidelines based on food because through it, the country makes a statement about how its citizens are doing. eat to stay healthy.
“Today, poor diet is the main cause of disease and death among people. So if we have a document like this today, it is good for Ghana’s nutrition, it is good for progress. People need to eat food to stay healthy. Ghana has a lot of food but how , we have been getting rid of a lot of nutritious food and eating imported and processed food and it is not helping us,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the United Nations Population Coordinator in Ghana, the WHO representative for Ghana, Dr Francis Kasolo, said that the food dietary guidelines are not intended to give publicity to specific foods, food groups, institutional food standards or general dietary guidelines, but, as a tool and an essential evidence framework for promoting healthy diets and sustainable food systems. It also provides guidance for food-related government policies as well as program design and implementation.
The Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Yaw Frimpong Addo, who launched the guidelines, called on all to adopt more sustainable measures through a food-based approach to address the various challenges related to food, nutrition and health in the country. .
Source: graphic.com.gh
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