Despite efforts by experts to ensure healthy living for Nigerians, many are still faced with different health challenges because of choice of food and lifestyle attributable to poverty. PAUL OKAH reports.
“Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food” is a popular quote made centuries ago by Hippocrates, the reputed father of medicine.
Anywhere you turn to on social media, TV, print and radio, it would be one Nigerian or the other seeking financial assistance for kidney disease, cancer, diabetes and other ailments that often claim lives of patients when not detected early.
However, despite warnings by medical doctors and health experts, many Nigerians have persisted in eating junk food, unhealthy foods and lack of commitment to exercising; thereby risking health challenges.
Blueprint Weekend’s investigation revealed that, as a result of their affordability, junk foods have become a replacement for healthy foods in many homes, despite the health challenges they pose.
While experts have traced diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, hypertension and cancer to lifestyles, there seems no end in sight to the consumption of unhealthy food as a result of the poverty of many Nigerians.
Nigerians speak
Speaking with our reporter, a Civil Servant, Patrick Adewale, said that Nigerians must not be blamed for their choice of food as poverty was really dealing with a lot of people.
He said: “Where I come from, we have a saying that if you don’t see what to do, you do what it means. What it means is that when the desired is unavailable, the available becomes the desired.
“In Nigeria of today, people no longer have a choice of tasty food or even picky because the economy isn’t favouring many people.
“When you price food items and see the price, you will immediately move to the next alternative. That’s why Nigerians are embracing junks to feed the worms in their stomach. Whether there is a good or bad economy, people must eat.
“So, those who are not from wealthy homes eat whatever they can afford. If what they eat causes health challenges, then it’s not really their fault because they can’t help it as the hope of everyone is to eat and stay alive.”
Also speaking with Blueprint Weekend, a Hairdresser in Dutse, a suburb of Abuja, Anita Gbenga, said that she often eats once a day or forgoes the meal not knowing readiness and eating as a result of her inability to afford certain food.
She said: “Prices of food items are generally high. Things are getting expensive by the day, so we just have to manage and buy whatever our money can afford.
“For instance, right now a small noodle is being sold for N400, something that was N100 before. Hungry man size of noodles is now N800. Sometimes, I eat once a day because I am not making much in my business. I can take soft drinks, noodles, tea, biscuits, Gala and I will be alright.
“To cook now is a herculean task as prices of items have hit the roof. In fact, just yesterday, I wanted to buy a mudu of rice and was told N1,800 last, then beans N1,500. I had to buy half mudu because that’s what I could afford.
“So, I honestly won’t blame anyone who develops a stomach ulcer because of not eating well. It’s because of the situation we have found ourselves in, but we will come out of it in good health.”
On her part, a school teacher, Fatima Abdullahi, said there was a great disparity between the poor and the rich when it comes to seeking medical care.
She said: “Poverty is the reason many people have health challenges. Some wealthy men, whenever they feel the slightest discomfort, rush to the hospital to have themselves checked, possibly abroad. That way, they will be able to detect, treat ailments that would have developed into serious health issues if allowed to persist.
“On the other hand, those in the lower class often allow their health conditions to deteriorate before seeking professional help, after seeing that self-medication is counterproductive.
“As a result, many of them are often brought in dead in clinics and hospitals. Some people don’t know they have kidney diseases, diabetes, cancer and other ailments until their cases become unbearable. Therefore, I agree that poverty contributes to rising health challenges we experience in Nigeria today.
“Many people are living in slums and areas even pigs will not be proud of and oftentimes end up with one disease or the other. Nevertheless, it is advisable for people, no matter how poor they may claim to be, to seek medical help whenever they are not feeling well. After all, the government has made it possible for primary healthcare centres to cater for the health of people at the grassroots, so it can only get better.”
Experts speak
Also, speaking with our correspondent, a Public Health Expert, Dr Peter Agha Eze, said that there are many healthy foods Nigerians can eat that are still affordable more than junk food.
He said: “We always advise people to eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly and to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Oftentimes, the average Nigerian cannot afford certain food that’s believed to have high nutritional values.
“However, what many people don’t know is that there are certain local foods we consume that contain higher nutritional values than even the food on shelves in supermarkets.
“Vegetables and roots are not something that can be dispensed with in a diet. Eggs, meat are equally important. Legumes, nuts, cereals are healthy meals that can take the place of shawarma, noodles and other processed food.
“It’s a pity that many people disregard warnings to be eating junks, snacks, soda drinks and all that. Even here in Abuja, there are places you can go to and eat a plate of good food for N500, N600, N700 or N1,000. So, it’s a surprise that many would opt for cheap snacks and carbonated drinks or soda, commonly called minerals, that would even cost more than a plate of food.
“So, once many Nigerians change their mindset about being too poor to afford good food, they will spend less to take care of their health.”
Similarly, a Medical Doctor, Dr Robert Ojong, said the life expectancy of Africans, especially Nigerians, was very short. Hence they should do everything to stay healthy and not blame poverty for their health challenges.
He said: “Poverty is not an excuse not to enjoy a healthy lifestyle. If you see the kind of things Nigerians consume, you will not even pity them when they have health challenges.
“Go to motor parks and see how people drink concoctions in the name of herbal drinks. Sugar-sweetened drinks are the order of the day at home or any gathering, with many even too lazy to engage in any exercise of any kind that will help them burn fats.
“Therefore, Nigerians should learn to eat right. It has nothing to do with poverty as many of our common African foods have enough nutrients required for our bodily functions.
“A healthy diet maintains or improves overall health as it provides the body with essential nutrition: fluid, macronutrients such as protein, micronutrients such as vitamins, and adequate fiber and food energy.
“A balanced diet contains foods from fruits, vegetables, dairy, grains, and protein, which are obtained from beans, fish, eggs, meat and so on. So, Nigerians should eat right and stay healthy.”
