Awareness over the matter of health and fitness in Nigeria has now become more of an everyday topic rather than the unpopular conversation it was many years ago. Back then, people did not seem to pay as close attention as they do now to this new “fit fam” era. They even had such traditional theories as the need for slim people not to pay as close attention to their health as others, or that with wealth and age, one must “fatten up” to demonstrate their perceived superior well-being.
This traditional mindset might still exist, but in today’s world where the occurrence of health issues such as allergies, genetic deformations, obesity, diabetes and cancer is on the rise, reality is leading us to see that we have to be extremely careful of what we do with our bodies. People are now very aware that we are now exposed to so many toxic conditions, some of which we have little or no control over unfortunately such as air and water pollution, global warming etc. As a result, these illnesses are so common these days, especially with the younger generations and even with children.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), worldwide obesity has doubled since 1980; more than 65% of the world’s population lives in countries where being overweight kills more people than being underweight; and more than 40million children under the age of five are overweight.
Furthermore, according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (United States), the prevalence of food allergies and cancer incidence rates amongst children under the age of 18years is growing. While these statistics are representative of the population in the United States, we cannot hide the fact that these diseases are becoming very common in Nigeria as well.
However, notwithstanding our knowledge of such issues, we may not be doing all the right things to ensure that we and our children are not at risk, at least to the extent within our control. Diseases such as obesity, for instance, are preventable. Additionally, as Africans, we also need to be careful, because we are at higher risk of diabetes due to our diet and lifestyle choices. So when we are preparing meals, we have to be mindful of the following:
1. Chemical Additives: These serve the purpose of preserving and fortifying food with taste. Some, such as MSG (Monosodium glutamate), found in many seasonings, are very high in sodium and promote fat retention. This is a silent killer that may be worse than alcohol, nicotine, and drugs.
2. Genetically Modified Food: These are essentially protein-engineered food, some of which the direct effect on the human genetic and immune system is unproven, yet they are still out there and available for us to consume.
3. Fast Food and Junk Food: Food should not be a quick fix. There should be nothing “fast” about it. Shouldn’t the fact that food is now readily available to be consumed within such few minutes make us question the authenticity? Fast food and junk food are very heavily processed and are also quite far from their natural form. They have high fat and sugar content, and barely any valuable nutritional value (including some so called healthy snacks and fruit juices).
So every time we eat, we should really think beyond just satisfying our hunger or need to snack on something. We should bear in mind what value we are getting out of what we put in our bodies.
We should also stat to involve our children and ourselves in more cardiovascular activities; avoiding the sedentary lifestyle of sitting down with our eyes glued to the screens of our televisions, computers and IPads. Gradual changes like taking the stairs instead of lifts once in a while or calm evening strolls with the family could go a long way.
In the short term, a healthy diet has the added benefit of helping to develop and improve cognitive strength, agility, concentration, physical appearance and health in general. Visits to the doctor will not have to be a common occurrence in our lives. In the long term, we would live longer and save a lot of money that would be otherwise spent on hospital bills.
This is all easier said than done, especially in our environment where we in addition to a generally unhealthy diet and rise in the number of fast food outlets, our physical and economic environments add to our stress levels thereby leading many to become hypertensive or have stress-related diseases. However in whatever way we can we must try our best as ignorance could lead to many dangers.
The world is inevitably becoming a more toxic place to live in and we must do our best to protect ourselves as well as our children, the next generation. We must also ensure that we educate them about these things as well, so that they can take such healthy lifestyle practices beyond childhood.
OYIN EGBEYEMI
