Nutrition
Benefits of watermelon
Watermelon is a hydrated fruit and very nutritious to the body. In recent times, water melon is in season and its benefits include preventing dehydration, lowering blood pressure, possibly reducing muscle soreness, and potentially protecting against chronic conditions like heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
Additionally, watermelon seeds contain magnesium, iron, zinc, and healthy fats.
-Keeps one hydrated
Watermelon is composed of more than 90 per cent of water. A source explains that we get 80per cent of hydration from what we drink and 20 per cent from what we eat; watermelon can definitely help with this balanced intake
-Healthy digestion
Watermelon contains a high water content and a small amount of fibre. Fibre adds bulk to your stool and keeps one regular, while water helps move waste through your digestive system.
– Weight management
Choosing watermelon over a meal or snack can make one full. Eating watermelon daily helps controls one diet and blood pressure.
– Reduces cancer risk
Lycopene found in watermelon may reduce inflammation and oxidative stress. Chronic inflammation can increase one’s risk for certain diseases, including cancer. Lycopene has the potential to reduce inflammation and keep cancer cells from growing, which reduces one’s risk for the diseases. Studies have shown that increasing lycopene intake can reduce risk for and prostate cancer.
– Watermelon reduces inflammation
A specific combination of antioxidants, lycopene and vitamin C, found in watermelon can lower inflammation and oxidative. Chronic inflammation can lead to serious conditions, including cancer, asthma, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.
– Protects the skin
The water and vitamins A, B6, and C in watermelon improves skin elasticity and blood flow. Vitamin A helps repair skin cells, preventing dry, flaky skin, while vitamin B6 helps with skin breakouts.
Lycopene can play a role in protecting your skin from the sun.
Nutrition
Nourishing Ghana Starts with Us: The role of citizens
The success of Ghana’s fight against malnutrition does not rest solely in the hands of the government or donors. It depends on us, the citizens. Nutrition is not just a technical issue. It is a societal one, and every Ghanaian has a role to play in ensuring that no child goes hungry, no mother is left unsupported, and no community is forgotten.
As citizens, we must shift how we see nutrition: not as a private family concern, but as a collective national responsibility. Here’s how we can act:
1. Demand accountability
Every citizen has the right and responsibility to ask how public funds are being used to support nutrition. Are local clinics stocked with supplements? Are school feeding programmes working in your district? Are maternal health services adequately funded? Ask questions. Engage assembly members. Attend town hall meetings. Make your voice count.
2. Speak up, Speak out
Silence has a cost. When we fail to speak out against malnutrition, we normalise it. Use your platform, whether it is WhatsApp group, a radio show, a church gathering, or social media, to raise awareness. Normalise conversations about child feeding, food quality, and maternal health. Silence keeps systems broken. Voices drive change.
3. Support local solutions
Support or join community nutrition initiatives. Volunteer. Share what you know. Help spread accurate information about breastfeeding, healthy diets, and hygiene. If you are a farmer, teacher, trader, or youth leader, your knowledge and effort can make a difference. Change starts in our homes and neighbourhoods.
4. Protect the first 1,000 days
Whether you are a father, grandmother, neighbor, or employer, support pregnant women and caregivers during this crucial period. Encourage antenatal care. Help with child care. Prioritise nutritious foods. The first 1,000 days of a child’s life lay the foundation for everything that follows.
When citizens care, ask questions, take action, and show solidarity, we create the conditions for lasting change. Malnutrition is not inevitable. It is a symptom of neglect, and neglect ends when citizens choose to act.
Feature article by Women, Media and Change under its Nourish Ghana: Advocating for Increased Leadership to Combat Malnutrition Project
Nutrition
Ga Kenkey
Ga kenkey, a staple in Ghanaian cuisine, is prepared with fermenting corn dough, then cooking a portion of it to create ‘aflata’ or ‘banku’. It is a popular food in the southern part of Ghana.
Ingredients:
-8 cups of dried corn
-Dried corn leaves (for wrapping)
-2 tablespoonful of stew
Preparation
-Soak corn in water overnight
-Grind corn into a powder form
-Mix the ground corn with water (dough)
-Mix part of the dough with water and put it on fire to cook
-Take the pot off the fire and mix in the remaining dough .
– When ready shape mixture into balls and set every prepared ball on a corn leaf.
– Cover each ball by wrapping the corn leaf around it
– Put water on fire. Add wrapped kenkey to boil for 45 minutes.
– When ready take them out carefully and serve them along with shito, ground pepper and fish.
