Health Essentials
Sick food environment: Poor diets fuelling the rise of NCDs in Ghana
- /home/u249204778/domains/spectator.com.gh/public_html/wp-content/plugins/mvp-social-buttons/mvp-social-buttons.php on line 27
https://spectator.com.gh/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Soft-drinks.jpeg&description=Sick food environment: Poor diets fuelling the rise of NCDs in Ghana', 'pinterestShare', 'width=750,height=350'); return false;" title="Pin This Post">
- Share
- Tweet /home/u249204778/domains/spectator.com.gh/public_html/wp-content/plugins/mvp-social-buttons/mvp-social-buttons.php on line 72
https://spectator.com.gh/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Soft-drinks.jpeg&description=Sick food environment: Poor diets fuelling the rise of NCDs in Ghana', 'pinterestShare', 'width=750,height=350'); return false;" title="Pin This Post">
WHEN Dorcas reaches for a chilled bottle of her favourite soft drink after lunch, she rarely considers its long-term effects on her health. For the 29-year-old secretary in Accra, the sweetness is comforting. The tiny print on the label—numbers, percentages and scientific terms—feels too distant to warrant concern.
“I take these drinks because they are less expensive compared to natural fruit juice. They are easy to get. Sometimes the drinks paired with a bun, buff loaf, cookies or biscuits serve as a full meal,” she says.
Nutrition experts, however, warn that a single 300ml bottle of soda can contain as many as nine cubes of sugar, almost twice the recommended daily limit.
“Even when you dilute it, the sugar content doesn’t reduce. Your tongue may not taste it, but your body absorbs every gram,” says Harriett Nuamah Agyemang, Country Director of SEND Ghana, which is leading advocacy for Front-of-Pack Labelling (FOPL) to help consumers make healthier choices.
Rising consumption and growing risk
Professor Richmond Nii Okai Aryeetey, a Public Health Nutrition Expert at the University of Ghana, says a recent study shows that one-third of Ghanaian adolescents consume sugary drinks at least once a day.
“Before the end of 2025, Ghana has already purchased almost US$1.3 billion worth of sugar-sweetened beverages. There is not enough data, but we know enough to see that consumption is high and rising, especially among the youth,” he indicates.
According to the Ghana Living Standards Survey, households spend nearly three per cent of their income—about GH¢2,200 annually—on sugary drinks.
Prof. Aryeetey says diets dominated by sugar, salt and fat, common in Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs), are driving increases in hypertension, diabetes and heart disease.
“Ultra-processing takes food to another level. You combine ingredients that are intensely refined, and add industrial formulations, colours, flavours, sweeteners, that never appear in home cooking,” he explains. He identifies doughnuts, pizza, ketchup, burgers, and fizzy drinks as common UPFs.
The numbers behind the burden
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including stroke, heart disease, diabetes and cancers, account for 48 per cent of all deaths in Ghana.
In 2019, the age-standardised mortality rate for major NCDs stood at 750 per 100,000 males and 563 per 100,000 females. Projections indicate that by 2034, nearly 41 per cent of all deaths could be linked to complications from four major NCDs: stroke, heart attack, heart failure and chronic kidney disease, largely driven by unhealthy diets.
Ghana Health Service (GHS) data shows that in 2024 alone, more than 584,000 people were diagnosed with hypertension and nearly 200,000 with diabetes. In the first half of 2025, a further 255,000 hypertension cases and 88,000 diabetes cases were recorded.
Public health experts describe this as evidence of a “sick food environment”, where consumers are surrounded by cheap, aggressively marketed products high in salt, fat and sugar.
Convenience foods and changing lifestyles
From instant noodles and tomato paste to packaged snacks and fizzy drinks, UPFs have become staples in homes, schools, and workplaces.
Ms Agyemang links the trend to changing lifestyles.
“People spend hours in traffic and get home late. They go for the quick options canned, instant or fried. But the long-term cost to their health is enormous,” she says.
Ghana’s current labelling regulations require nutritional information to be placed on the back of packages, often in fine print that many consumers struggle to interpret.
“Even educated consumers struggle with it. For the ordinary person, it’s even more confusing,” she adds.
Front-of-Pack Labeling
Several countries, including South Africa, Nigeria, Mexico and Chile, have adopted Front-of-Pack Labelling, using simple symbols or colours to indicate high levels of salt, sugar or fat.
The WHO says FOPL enables consumers to identify healthier options at a glance and encourages manufacturers to reformulate products in order to avoid warning labels.
“It doesn’t only guide shoppers. It forces companies to compete on health, not just price,” Ms Agyemang notes.
At Rawlings Park in Accra, food vendor, Asia Bintu, says she checks only expiry dates.
“I don’t understand the numbers and those tiny inscriptions. Canned foods are cheaper and easier to cook,” she says.
Advocates say such responses reflect low food literacy, underscoring the need for public education and regulation.
Health system under pressure
Maxwell Bisda Konla, Principal Dietician at the University of Ghana Hospital, says Ghana’s progress in improving national nutrition has slowed.
“Obesity, hypertension and other NCDs are rising at an alarming rate as Ghanaians shift from traditional fibre-rich foods to highly processed meals, sugary drinks and refined carbohydrates,” he says.
Heart disease, kidney failure, and liver complications now feature prominently in mortality data.
He calls for stronger policies to limit the importation and marketing of unhealthy foods while promoting local alternatives such as brown rice, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.
Schools as a focal point
Labram Musah, National Coordinator of the Ghana NCD Alliance, says schools are critical to reversing current trends.
“Children are increasingly exposed to unhealthy diets, especially in urban areas. What they eat in schools shapes their lifelong habits,” he says.
He advocates regulation of foods sold in and around schools, and the introduction of practical nutrition education, including school gardens and healthy meal plans.
“It’s not enough to tell children what to eat. We must make healthy options available and affordable. Imagine if every school had a small garden, it would change how children think about food.”
Mr Musah also urges the integration of FOPL into Ghana’s broader NCD prevention strategy, alongside salt reduction, sugar taxes and restrictions on marketing UPFs to children.
Evidence from Africa
A randomised controlled trial in Kenya involving 2,198 shoppers found that FOPL significantly improved participants’ ability to identify sugar, salt and saturated fat in packaged foods and reduced intentions to buy unhealthy products, particularly when black warning labels were used.
A South African study similarly found that simplified Front-Of-Pack Labels were more effective than detailed back-of-pack tables in helping consumers identify unhealthy foods.
Prevention as priority
The WHO says clear labelling can drive product reformulation and reduce diet-related diseases over time.
“Reading a label could be the difference between good health and a lifetime of medication. If we don’t act now, we will keep spending millions treating preventable diseases,” Ms Agyemang warns.
For Ghana, a stronger focus on prevention could reduce pressure on health facilities already managing growing NCD caseloads.
Nutrition advocates say introducing Front-of-Pack Labelling would strengthen Ghana’s response to NCDs by making nutritional quality visible at the point of purchase and supporting healthier decision-making.
Advancing SDG Three
The rising burden of diet-related NCDs poses a significant challenge to achieving Sustainable Development Goal Three, which aims to reduce premature deaths from NCDs through prevention and treatment.
Improving Ghana’s food environment through clearer labelling, salt and sugar reduction policies and better access to affordable healthy foods is considered essential to meeting these targets.
By prioritising preventive nutrition policies and healthier diets, Ghana could reduce avoidable illness, ease pressure on the health system and advance efforts to ensure healthy lives and well-being for all.
-GNA
I have over the past two decades looked beyond mainstream medicine to assess other options that lead to holistic health, and I must say it’s been exciting and revealing but it’s not an easy path.
As I matured and my knowledge expanded, I have changed my opinion on some aspects of wellness and many findings have been humbling. We all continue to learn each day.
I will share some of the life-changing skills that we take for granted. In our quest for wellness there appears to be more questions than answers, but moderation still remains key in our daily lives.
The power of prayer, praise and worship of God cannot be taken out of the equation.
Ready. Set. Let us do this together.
- Strength training is a must for ALL of us
- Yes, we all need to dig into the various aspects of exercise; strength training, cardiovascular training, stretches or flexibility training and balance training. If you asked me about a decade ago to pick the king of all exercises, I would naively have answered cardiovascular such as walking, cycling etc. but I am certain now that strength training trumps all and we need to incorporate at least a bit of that in our exercise programme.
- Take a short walk after each meal
- Many of us (your truly included) after dinner barely get to wash our hands before the miracle of the Lotus Eaters sends us to dreamland. Our fingers will be signaling to rats and cockroaches to come out and party.
- Walking a few minutes after eating may hold the key to helping control our blood sugar levels and reduce the spikes in insulin that come with a myriad of issues. At the very least the short walks after eating will add up to increase the energy you expend daily.
- Eating your vegetables and proteins before your carbohydrates may be helpful
- Well, how true may this be? I suggest it is worth trying. I am not saying clear your plate of all protein before you even take a spoonful of carbohydrate. The fibre will slow the absorption of the sugar for hours and even better, you may feel full after the vegetables and protein and not be able to gobble down the mounds of carbohydrates you had planned to dismantle.
- Eat slowly but do not get your boss angry
- Eating slowly does not mean spending hours at lunch and courting the displeasure of your superiors. It takes about 20 minutes for your brain to realise you are full so dear friend, take your time to chew and enjoy your food. A meal “downed” in less than 20 minutes may cause you to virtually suffocate when you top up with water. This is a message to myself and all those who like me eat so quickly that Usain Bolt will envy our speed.
- Eat from small, colourful plates
- Small colourful plates make an impression on our brains. Since the little food appears loaded on a small plate our brains tend to “believe” it’s a lot of food and we feel full for a strange reason. Put the same amount in a large plate and you are likely to be asking for second servings.
- By all means make friends
- The power of social wellness and its role in longevity and an enviable health span is no longer in doubt. By all means make a few good friends and enjoy life! Thank me later.
- Sleep!
- Yes, I do agree there are at least seven forms of rest, and they are all equally important BUT start off with sleep and we will gradually rope in all others.
- Keep your eyes on your numbers
- I have written and spoken about the miracle of knowing our numbers and keeping them in check; blood pressure, blood sugar, lipids and BMI. Today I suggest you look at your heart rate closely. A low heart rate may be an indicator for staying here on planet earth for a long time. Also keeping glycated haemoglobin (long term blood sugar) low is another feather in the cap of longevity.
- Appropriate supplementation
- The golden rule is to get all your nutrients from your food but for many of us that may not be possible hence the need to supplement ( note that supplement overdose does exist)
- It is ideal to discuss supplementation with your healthcare professional and your discussion should look at probiotics, magnesium glycinate, Vit D3 + K2, a good multivitamin and in some instances creatine or whey Protein. I am in no way suggesting you take all these, each individual is unique and that is why it is crucial to discuss your options with a professional.
- Make a conscious effort to be HAPPY
- Happiness affects our entire being in positive ways; smile, say a kind word to someone, be grateful, surround yourself with people who make you happy and not ones who sap your energy, volunteer to support people and by all means get a hobby eg gardening, playing a game etc and the best get news yet; you don’t even have to be good at your hobby to benefit.
We are not waiting for a magical or ideal day to start working on our Health and Wellness, we start today bearing in mind that “the most efficient way to reach our realistic health and wellness goals is to make small healthy choices daily.
AS ALWAYS LAUGH OFTEN, ENSURE HYGIENE, WALK AND PRAY EVERYDAY AND REMEMBER IT’S A PRICELESS GIFT TO KNOW YOUR NUMBERS (blood sugar, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, BMI)
Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel
Health Essentials Ltd/ Medics Clinic
(dressel@healthessentialsgh.com)
*Dr. Essel is a Medical Doctor with a keen interest in Lifestyle Medicine, He holds an MBA and is an ISSA Specialist in Exercise Therapy, Fitness Nutrition and Corrective Exercise. He is the author of the award-winning book, ‘Unravelling The Essentials of Health & Wealth.’
Thought for the week – “WHERE YOU LIVE SHOULD NOT DETERMINE IF YOU LIVE.”- WHO
Very often we leave the doctor’s office only to remember that we left out a major complaint. Some patients immediately rush back to the consulting room totally oblivious of the privacy that the next patient is entitled to.
They expect that as they walk in, the doctor should ignore the seated or positioned patient and attend to them. That is totally outrageous. Others go home and continue to live with the condition hoping to be healed miraculously.
Most of us will be extremely lucky to spend 15 minutes with our doctor and this time is often much shorter in countries/communities where the doctor-patient ratio is so low that at best it can be described as criminal.
We are now in the second half of 2026, and I highly recommend that you see a doctor not only when you are unwell but as a means to assess your state of wellbeing and take the needed precautions. It is critical that you find a good primary care doctor who is knowledgeable and proactive and will also be able to coordinate specialist care that you may require.
To make the most out of our time with the doctor we need to PREPARE. If your condition is an emergency, then you do not have the benefit of time to prepare.
A must do!
Kindly ensure your personal hygiene is excellent.
- Take a good bath and brush your teeth
- Wear clean clothes that also make undressing easy, especially if you need to expose some areas for inspection/examination.
This may sound ridiculous, but the opposite does happen in real life.
Remember that doctors are human and when you are unkempt you may not get adequate contact with your doctor.
Research on the symptoms
If you have access to the internet or a book worth its salt you may read about your symptoms or wait to read after your doctor tells you your diagnosis.
Remember that if you need to research on the internet, it is essential that you use a reputable site.
In tune with your complaints
- Write down your complaints/symptoms if you think you may forget.
- If you have had a similar problem and have the results of any investigations e.g. Laboratory tests, x-rays, CT scans etc kindly carry them along
- Let your doctor know if you react to any drugs.
- Be truthful about any medications you have taken for the condition, if you do not remember the names make sure you go with the containers.
- If you have any other medical conditions (and medication) make the doctor aware.
- Remember to make a note of the following
- When did the symptoms/complaint begin?
- How long have you had these symptoms?
- Is it getting worse?
- Does anything make the condition worse?
- What makes you feel better?
- Is anything related to their onset?
- How often does it occur?
- How long does it last e.g. in pain conditions as well as rash, allergies etc.
- Does anyone else in your family have them?
- How do they affect your daily life?
- Is it related to work or home?
You may need to modify these slightly when you have skin lesions, swellings etc. This list is by no means exhaustive, and you may not need to find answers to all of them before getting help, but they will definitely help you ace the visit to your doctor.
If your doctor books you for surgery, do not leave his presence without finding out the following:
- Will you go home on the same day of the surgery?
- Will you need assistance to go home or can you drive unsupervised for instance
- What form of anaesthesia will you be given?
Then, if your visit is for a medical examination, do remember that also being aware of disease conditions in your family will help your doctor select the appropriate tests and make the whole experience and time useful.
Finally do not leave your doctor without finding out:
- How much physical activity/exercise you require; the Almighty “FITT” prescription
- What you need to eat or avoid.
- Some basic information regarding SLEEP.
See you in the consulting room soon.
AS ALWAYS LAUGH OFTEN, ENSURE HYGIENE, WALK AND PRAY EVERYDAY AND REMEMBER IT’S A PRICELESS GIFT TO KNOW YOUR NUMBERS (blood sugar, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, BMI)
Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel
Health Essentials Ltd (HE&W Group)/Medics Clinic
(dressel@healthessentialsgh.com)
*Dr. Essel is a Medical Doctor with a keen interest in Lifestyle Medicine, He holds an MBA and is an ISSA Specialist in Exercise Therapy, Fitness Nutrition and Corrective Exercise. He is the author of the award-winning book, ‘Unravelling The Essentials of Health & Wealth.’
Thought for the week – “The next big thing in Healthcare in Ghana is the Medics Clinic. Visit https://medicsgroupgh.com/ for more information.”
References:
