The second lady of Ghana, Matilda Amissah-Arthur has charged Ghanaians to change their lifestyle of eating junk foods which has the tendency of increasing the probability of attracting cardiovascular diseases.
Mrs. Amissah-Arthur said for some time now junk food has taken centre stage in the country where people queue to buy these foods at the expense of their lives, adding that the intake of such foods simply means pilling cholesterol into the system.
Speaking at the launch of this year's World Heart Day 2014 dubbed 'Creating Heart-Healthy Environments Wherever you Live and Play,' she advised parents to help their children to manage their eating habit to avoid attracting cardiovascular related issues.
She said studies have shown that over 80% of death in cardiovascular diseases can be prevented by simply adopting good eating habits and attending frequent exercises.
According to her, eating good food does not mean that one is rich, but rather portrays one's sense of preventing cardiovascular disease which has been one of the killing agents in most developing countries such as Ghana.
"Children should demand from parents to prepare them food at home before leaving to school and advise their parents to stop smoking because it is one of the expensive ways of living," she stated.
The second lady called on Members of Parliament to initiate laws that will bring into bear recreational activities or parks where families can go and exercise or play to reduce issues of cardiovascular diseases.
On his part the, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Cardiothoracic Centre, Dr. Agyeman Sereboe said it has been estimated worldwide that cardiovascular diseases is going to be an epidemic in the near future if measures are not put in place to regulate people's eating lifestyle.
Dr. Sereboe added that it is, therefore, important to promote how the environment can help reduce the issues of cardio related problems such as life style and choices.
"This can be done through making heart healthy choices everywhere they live, work or play and the little changes that one makes in the home in terms of attitude and choices can contribute immensely to the reduction of cardiovascular diseases," he stated.
He advised parents to stop the habit of smoking in the homes and public places and limit activities in the home but rather embark on family exercises to improve their health.
He appealed to global and national policy makers to provide more opportunities to make health choices limit the amount of fast food adverts on Television and Radio and regulate their operations.
He further asked the government to reduce tax legislations on healthy food and support the local production of fruits and enforce regulation on tobacco control or possibly outright ban in the country.
One of the title sponsors, Vodafone Ghana Limited used the occasion to donate GH� 200,000.00 towards the exercise which falls on September 27, with health walk in some selected principal streets of the capital.
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