Foods and our a healthy nation

Oct 18, 2011 Editorial

The health community is keen to tell people that they are what they eat. Literally put, they are saying that if one does not eat well then one would become ill, or obese or simply malnourished. Poor diet is common among many Guyanese particularly among the more affluent who often do not spend much time looking after their health.
It is surprising to many in the health sector that within recent times an increasing number of Guyanese are succumbing to renal ailments. There is also a high percentage of diabetics. Further, hypertension is prevalent, very prevalent in a society where people once worked hard and exercised routinely through their daily activities.
The more affluent the country, the more the ailments that stem from a poor diet. Guyanese are not averse to eating healthy. The reality, however, is that they follow trends in the developed world. Fast food outlets proliferate in the developed world and they have now become part of the local landscape.
In the developed world, obesity is a challenge. Some of the largest people live in those countries where the GDP is much higher that Guyana’s and where people readily eat out at restaurants or simply pick up a meal that may not be all that healthy but one which satisfies hunger.
The Ministry of Health is now trying to get people to understand that what passes for fast food while ready to be eaten is actually contributing to ill health. Many are fattening and can lead to clogged arteries.
What is surprising is that the average Guyanese knows that there are foods that help maintain good health. As children they learnt about green vegetables, fruits and the like. The marketplace abounds with these things and there is no shortage of shoppers. Most Guyanese do prepare their own meals, largely because they do not have much disposable income.
However, there are those who have grown lazy, who would boast that they hate facing the kitchen, who would actually promote the restaurants. They see it as fashionable to emulate the people in the developed world. In fact, television which is all about the country from which the signal emanates actually is one of the mediums that promote the country.
The diplomats all agree that when Guyana began to attract television signals from the United States, the broadcasts did more than any American diplomat has ever done to promote the interests of America. Television brought American styles and fashions, American values and American eating habits.
It is the eating habits that are leading to the health issues. Some of the most obese people live in America and Europe. In fact, the American Medical Association is recognizing that obesity is a national issue. It traces this to eating habits.
There is now a regular focus on these eating houses. Health experts routinely measure the quality of foods served.
It is the same in Guyana except that there is not the technology to measure fats and calories and trans fats and the like. The result is that people buy what appears to be a tasty food regardless of the nutritious value.
The fact that a growing number of Guyanese need dialysis; that there are more and more people who are developing heart diseases and need corrective surgery; that there are more diabetics, is testimony to the eating habits of the local people. Where certain things never existed they do now.
The government will boast that it is spending huge sums of money on health. What it will not say is that this spending is occasioned by people developing bad habits and therefore placing more pressure on the health services.
The widely held view is that there should be a campaign to educate people about a series of health habits. The same television that is importing the bad habits into our living rooms could be used to make people aware of the dangers inherent in emulating that which they see in the developed country.
To the country’s credit by no stretch of imagination has obesity reached the proportions in the developed world and heaven’s forbid if it does. This could be avoided and must.
The grow more food campaign must be supported by a concomitant health campaign. It is a pity that there is no lateral planning when campaigns are launched. The cost would be so much less and even lesser than the expenditures on health at this time.

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Foods and our a healthy nation

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