By Albert Allotey
Accra, Jan. 7, GNA – The Ghana NCD Alliance (GhNCDA) has appealed to the public to avoid impulsive spending on unhealthy diets to escape the tendency of contracting non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
It said unhealthy lifestyles, coupled with physical inactivity, tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and poor diets, were the major modifiable risk factors for NCDs like obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cancers, and cardiovascular diseases.
These risk factors hinder progress toward the attainment of SDG 3.4, which targets a one-third reduction in premature NCD mortality by 2030 through prevention, treatment, and mental health promotion.
A statement copied to the Ghana News Agency by Mr Labram Musah, the Coordinator of the GhNCDA made the appeal.
It said the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development highlighted NCDs as a critical challenge to global development due to their significant economic threat, potentially undermining efforts to reduce poverty, inequality, and hunger and improve education and gender equality.
The statement said globally, diets have become richer in sugar, salt, fat, and other harmful additives, while physical activity has declined.
“This shift has led to an increase in obesity rates particularly among young people and women,” it stated.
It said the 2023 Ghana Demographic Health Survey reported that among children under age five, 18 per cent were stunted (short for their age), six per cent were wasted (thin for their height), 12 per cent were underweight (light for their age), and two per cent were overweight due to unhealthy food consumption high in sugar, salt, and fat.
“People intentionally budget a portion of their monthly earnings for frivolous spending during festive season and social event,” the statement said.
It noted however that the public should be advised against impulsive spending on unhealthy cravings, as this could lead to NCDs and increased socioeconomic burdens.
“Prioritizing healthy lifestyles is vital to avoid the risk of NCDs and excessive healthcare spending. Vulnerable groups tend to suffer the most from unhealthy lifestyles, further plunging them into poverty due to spending a significant portion of their low income on expensive medications and treatment,” the statement observed.
The statement said to address the challenge of NCDs, the Ghana NCD Alliance in solidarity with all CSOs suggested increased public awareness of the risk factors for the diseases and health education.
“There is a need to strengthen the early detection and management of NCDs, enforce stringent legislation to support NCD prevention and control, and implement taxes and policies that raise the prices of unhealthy, harmful, non-essential, and non-nutritious foods to improve population health,” it urged
GNA