Tema-Ghana, April 20, CDA Consult – Ms. Ama Hienne Amoako, a Dietician at the International Maritime Hospital (IMaH), has revealed that excessive eating of greasy or fatty meals with high-calorie content may be a risk factor for obesity.
She discovered that these nutrients enhance the body’s energy level and that when no physical activity is performed, the extra energy is stored as fat in the body. As a result, these foods should be ingested sparingly.
The IMaH Dietician spoke at the weekly “Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility,” a Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office initiative aimed at promoting health-related communication and providing a platform for health information dissemination in order to influence personal health choices through improved health literacy.
The Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office established the “Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility” public health advocacy platform to examine the aspects of four health communication approaches: informing, instructive, persuasive, and urging.
The IMaH Dietician reiterated that the presence of high-calorie foods in the body increases the chance of obesity since the body takes a long time to digest food and thus retains fat.
Baked products or fries containing oil or fat that are high in energy, such as cakes, pizza, muffins, pies, donuts, and many others, should not be consumed on a regular basis to avoid increasing one’s blood cholesterol level.
Ms. Amoako also emphasized that obesity is linked to hypertension, diabetes, and other health issues, thus eating healthy meals and exercising regularly to lose weight should be encouraged.
She also emphasized that obesity is associated with hypertension, diabetes, and other health issues; thus, eating healthy meals and exercising frequently to lose weight should be encouraged.
Dr. Marc Kwame Dzradosi, Head of Pharmaceutical Services at IMaH, added to the discussion by explaining that obesity is caused by an imbalance between the number of calories consumed and the number of calories the body can break down.
“Every meal contains healthy components that, when consumed by the body, may be healthy but can also be harmful if eaten frequently,” he said.
Age may influence obesity, which can affect both infants and adults. Children aged four and up should not be forced to eat extra food by their parents because they will acquire weight.
Because the child’s stomach is built to consume a small amount of food, this situation will result in obesity and other health consequences such as heartburn, stomach problems, and many more.
Adopting an unhealthy lifestyle, such as eating more food than the body can handle, eating late at night, and not engaging in regular physical activity, he added, may contribute to obesity since the body retains excess fat.
Obese children aged 10-15 years are more likely to acquire type 2 diabetes, whereas those aged 18 and up have hypertension as a result of eating more salty and oily foods without engaging in regular physical activity, according to Dr. Dzradosi.
According to Mr. Francis Ameyibor, Tema Regional Manager of Ghana News Agency, “GNA-Tema Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility” is a public health advocacy platform meant to investigate the four approaches of health communication: informing, teaching, persuading, and encouraging.
He stated that the GNA platform, through the weekly health dialogue forum, provides as a great communication channel for medical practitioners to educate the public about healthy practices and other general health concerns.
According to Mr. Ameyibor, the Agency also hopes to establish active two-way media advocacy channels for healthcare practitioners to share promotional health information as well as propagate public health issues and health education.
