Malnutrition : “I receive patients who are less than ten years old but are already weighing above 60 kilograms”
Malnutrition : “I receive patients who are less than ten years old but are already weighing above 60 kilograms”.
Mouaffo Ingrid Ngouné a nutritionist, General manager of the «Centre de nutrition santè et sport» talks on the situation of nutrition in Cameroon. She provides ways through which the challenges in the domain can be handled .
What is your assessment of quality food consumption in Cameroon?
one week ago, I did a small game on twitter. I asked people to tell me what they ate during the day. When I read their answers, it was catastrophic, too much sugar, too much salt, no vegetables, no protein, no fiber. This brought me back to my job, because I receive patients who are less than ten years old but are already weighing above 60 kilograms. Their feeding from their young age was not guided . About three weeks ago I saw the figures on obesity in Cameroon, research done by the ministry of public health. 30% of the Cameroonian population is suffering from obesity, 37% for women, 22% for men.
What is the cause of the increase in these figures?
I think the first thing is the lack of information, we think healthy feeding is for the whites. Whereas, we have everything in Cameroon to have a healthy life . Do you know that European industries take raw materials from Africa, to transform them then bring back to us for us to buy? Its not supposed to be like that, we have our soils and they are fertile. The less a product is transformed the healthier it is. we have natural food that are rich in nutrients that the body needs but we don’t use them. For example, you are cooking groundnut soup, you add refined vegetable oil in it, it’s not normal. Next when we have doubts about what to eat, we should meet professionals, we have nutritionists, dieticians who are ready to orientate us.
Are you of the opinion that too much consumption of refined food is the cause of obesity in Cameroon?
I will not say it is the principal cause, because before buying a bottle of beer of whisky, or biscuits, we are first of all responsible for our actions. There are also things we do that destroy us latter. So, it is just a cause, but there are others.
What are the things then that can make someone to be obese?
Feeding, stress, lack of sporting activities, lack of research. Because when I receive patients here, some men say, its women that have to be slim. No! healthiness does not have a gender. When you try to change the diet of let’s say a 40 years old man who is used to eating his huge plate of eru, pounded fufu, its not easy. You can say reduce garri, reduce oil, don’t eat maggi, he does not understand that language. Because from childhood that’s what he knows, and that’s what he will transfer to his children who will eventually do same.
What then can be the solution to this problem?
We shall be organizing a food security forum in Douala from the 7th to the 9 th of December 2023 at starland hotel in Bonapriso. During this forum we will be bringing nutritionists, medical doctors, agro-industrialists, sports coaches, psychologists. During the forum there will be some major exercises, there will be SAB checkup where you meet with experts, SAB exposition, where you get to see made in Cameroon natural products, SAB talk, where you have experts talking on healthy feeding.
Why did you decide to organize a forum?
I was obese, I used to weigh more than 100 kilograms. I want Cameroonians to know my story, because I went through a lot, had several surgeries because of that. And all through this time there was no one to guide me . Today I weigh 75 kilograms. I want Cameroonians to know that they have many experts that can help them.
Interview conducted by Rex Afon (Intern)
