How roadside chapatis are slowly killing Kenyans

Our children have not been spared either. We now have a double burden of malnutrition – where high numbers of undernourished children co-exist with increasing numbers of overweight children.

No one contests the negative influence of cigarette smoking or excessive alcohol on health. However, the issue of what constitutes a healthy diet remains highly disputed. Many Kenyans believe that eating fatty meat contributes to disease. Many more assume fruit intake, and lots of it, is a healthy practice, even for diabetics.

Little kiosks are dotted all over towns and villages in Kenya, selling manufactured food products, such as bread, scones, chapati, mandazi, chips, and of course, sodas. Coca-colonisation is visually evident, everywhere. In the bigger cities, urbanization has led to increased uptake of processed foods, and a move away from diets rich in fiber and vegetables.

The Nairobi I grew up in in the 80s is now largely unrecognisable. Pizza deliveries are commonplace. Supermarkets are overflowing with processed food.

Petrol stations, having once sold fuel and newspapers, have been turned into cafes and fast-food restaurants. The portion sizes are huge, even by ‘western’ standards. As this 24-hour eating extravaganza descends onto our major cities, profits continue to soar with each expanding waistline.

Juicing has recently gained wide popularity, as a weight-conscious generation seek healthier alternatives to soda.

The juicing process squeezes out most of the moisture, leaving behind the seeds, skin and membranes – where most of the fibre and nutrients exist. This results in a concentrated sugary solution, devoid of many nutrients, and the protective effect of fibre.

A glass of pineapple juice can have as much sugar as a glass of soda. Are people aware of this? If not, why not?

This is what we know for sure. A poor diet the single biggest contributor to poor health. Nothing else comes close. Not exercise. Not even smoking. Giving other factors equal emphasis is not a sensible strategy.

Nutrition policies in the U.K. and U.S. (that were established over 40 years ago) were never based on good quality evidence. These guidelines were, over time, incorporated by middle and low-income countries.

The demonization of fat birthed a low-fat campaign, that led to the expansion of refined grains and sugar. Natural fat was substituted for industrially manufactured fats and oils. As our food environment changed, so did our waistlines. We have never been fatter, or sicker.

Diabetes, heart disease and cancer are crippling healthcare systems all over the world. Kenya cannot afford to have a diabetes epidemic.

This is a disease that will almost certainly bankrupt nations, in my lifetime. Yet, every survey tells us that this tsunami of metabolic disease is gaining momentum, at a time when the quality of and access to public healthcare remains inadequate.