According to nutritionist Fred Amese, the high cost of food has a direct impact on nutrition, food choice behavior, and people’s health because as the cost of food rises, people will settle for less healthy meals, resulting in an increase in diet-related illnesses in Ghana.
Mr Amese stated that people will resort to less expensive and less nutritious food brands or food combinations that are not healthy in order to feel satisfied by filling their stomachs, which will place a burden on the health sector in the long run due to a potential increase in disease burden.
“If the cost of food is causing poor nutrition, then people will not be able to afford health care because if you can’t afford quality food, you can’t afford appropriate health care,” the nutritionist contended.
He explained that food accessibility has two major components. As a result, people are unable to access food because it is too expensive, even though the food is available, or because food is unavailable despite the availability of funds.
According to the Ghana Statistical Service, food inflation in Ghana is 37.2% as of September 2022. However, many Ghanaians believe that the country’s food inflation is greater than 50%.
Nutritionist Fred Amese discussed the nutrition and health implications of Ghana’s rising food prices on 3FM Sunrise Morning Show.
“In our situation in Ghana, it is about cost, not food availability, and because it is so expensive, people cannot afford it.” If people cannot afford it, they will either go hungry or eat unhealthy alternatives, so increasing the cost of food has a direct negative impact on people’s nutrition.” According to Mr. Amese.
He expressed concern that the high cost of food will reduce the life expectancy of Ghana’s population, either indirectly or directly, and emphasized that food challenges have a serious impact on the entire lifecycle of humanity and reproductive systems. “If young girls do not eat well, their menstruation may even stop because that is their bodies’ natural response to a lack of appropriate nutrients in the system.”
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“Research has shown that young adolescent girls who are malnourished have interrupted menstrual cycles, and in some cases, their cycle completely stops.” Don’t be surprised if we begin to see these issues in young girls in our secondary and junior high schools because they are not well fed in schools due to high costs and insufficient food.” Mr. Amese expressed concern.
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