Lady Julia Osei Tutu, wife of the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has described as worrying the over-reliance on foreign and imported fruit, to the neglect of the country’s natural and organic foods needed by many Ghanaians to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
She said it is unfortunate that modern lifestyles “have taken hold, with some people over-relying on foods with questionable nutritional values in the interest of saving time while others take to nine-day-wonder dietary practices devoid of adequate physical activity”.
She said that reliable information is the cornerstone of good nutrition, good health and long life, and noted regrettably that poor nutrition choices have become the norm rather than the exception in most Ghanaians meals today.
Lady Julia was speaking during the 3rd Annual nutrition and health forum held in Kumasi on the theme 'Moderation and Exercise, Essential Ingredients in Maintaining a Balanced and Healthy Lifestyle'.
She indicated that her vision is to work towards ensuring that every Ghanaian meal is prepared and presented with a background of solid nutritional information.
To achieve this, she said, it is critical to make readily available the nutritional values of local foods and encourage as many Ghanaians as possible to patronise local produce.
She announced earlier that as a result of last year’s forum, the Coca Cola Company is supporting the Department of Dietetics and Nutrition at the Ghana Health Service to produce national dietary guidelines for feeding people with non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.
She is hopeful that the next project at the Department of Dietetics will be guidelines on the nutritional value of local foods.
She commended the Coca Cola company for its partnership and support, which she said has been fundamental to the programme’s success and sustainability.
She observed that media coverage on nutrition and wellbeing has been low, and therefore also charged the media to devote much time and coverage to these important health developments.
Later in an interview with UTV News, a Senior Pathologist and a former Director-General of the Ghana Health Service Prof. Agyemang Badu Akosah described poor nutritional practices as one of the major causes of some incurable disease which cause early death among Ghanaians in the country in recent times.
According to him, disease such as hypertension, diabetes, cancer among others which cause early death can be prevented if the populace become extra health conscious especially in their diet by avoiding late eating and adopting regular exercise to ensure a healthy lifestyle.
Other key speakers at the forum included Madam Ruby Arthur, Principal Dietician, Ridge Hospital; Dr. Samuel Kaba, Director ICD, Ghana Health Service (GHS) and others who took turns to take participants at the forum through healthy eating practices and exercises.
Source: Peacefmonline.com with additional files from BFT
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