Keeping NCDs in check

WE are well into the season of merry-making. This is when many Fijians will do things to the max. We indulge in good food, drink all we can, and do many other things that bring joy and laughter.

We visit family and friends, and attend to traditional obligations when we can, or if we have planned for them this season.

We push a lot of things to the limit.

When we eat, many of us will wolf down huge amounts of food, and wash this down with drinks that range from soft drinks, tea, coffee perhaps, and alcohol in large quantities.

We like doing things in excess it seems. Perhaps then, it is apt that we should be reminded about a few important things.

At this time last year, we were reminded that organic produce were effective in fighting non-communicable diseases.

If that is so, then let’s pull out all stops. Ministry of Health and Medical Services NCD national adviser Dr Isimeli Tukana mentioned this fact at a workshop in Lautoka on this month last year.

He said on a chemical level, organic nutrients were more prominent in supplying much needed health benefits for consumers.

In NCDs, he said, he was targeting chemical levels “because we need chemicals or nutrients to go into the body”.

Very few people took in these much needed chemicals though, which was a problem.

“Only 15 per cent of Fijians consume vegetables and fruits. The green side of a plate, very few people will eat despite the amount of food that we have and those are the health giving foods. That is where our problem lies and why we have a high number of NCDs,” he said at the time. His message was apt then as it is now.

There is a need for more consumption of organic food if we want to be healthy.

That means making it a point to eat organic food like fresh green vegetables that are not chemically induced.

We raised the issue at the time that it was a concern that 80 per cent of children under two years were anaemic.

Dr Tukana revealed this during his speech.

It was the result of a lack of consumption of iron rich food by Fijians.

“Anaemia means that oxygen is not reaching your heart and your brain. We have fresh air but you lack iron which carries oxygen to your brain,” he said.

The irony is that Fiji, he said, is in the top 10 countries with the cleanest air in the world. This is no use though when you don’t have iron in your body to carry that oxygen to your heart and to your brain.

So, let’s face it. We have an abundance of food that provides the vital ingredients our body needs.

Yet we are making bad choices, and they will come back to haunt us.

This festive season, perhaps we could be a bit more appreciative of the importance of a good diet.

There are tough decisions that have to be made daily, including the financial ramifications.

There are also important issues that we must embrace, and placing our lives and the health of our loved ones on a high pedestal should be factored in there somewhere.