It is with a heavy nutritional heart that I write this article.
Because my personal lawyer hasn’t finished law school yet and I don’t
want to risk any Gargantuan legal scenario I won’t mention specific
names. I have noticed some nice billboards with 2 ladies on it eating
a nice meal with a bottle beside it. The billboards imply that to have
an interesting meal, add a bottle of soft drink. What saddens me is
the sign of the heart somewhere on the page also implying having a
soft drink with a meal is interesting and would help your heart.
The ‘Kokah Kolah’ company is not breaking any legal laws for all I
know but this range of adverts is very unethical and it is sad the
Ministry of Health and Food and Drugs Board has not spoken against it.
Unfortunately, the media houses who also accept this adverts and
others like it clearly show where their priorities lie. Had it been a
political story, it will have made prime-time news and be on all radio
morning shows.
The facts are that; non-communicable diseases such as Diabetes,
Obesity, Hypertension and other Heart diseases are killing more
Ghanaians than even HIV. Research has been carried out in other
advanced countries which has shown that soft drinks consumption
contributes to rise in obesity and the non-communicable diseases I
mentioned.
‘Kokah Kolah’ contains sugar, some colour and water. The sugar
contained in a small bottle is equivalent to that in 9 cubes. This is
gotten from the nutrition information they provide on their bottles.
Combining this with a meal will most likely cause you to consume more
calories than you need and this predisposes you to become obese and
start you on the journey to Diabetes and the rest of its brothers.
A study conducted by Dr Dubois who is the Canada Research Chair in
Nutrition and Population Health, Department of Epidemiology and
Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa in
Canada and published in the Journal of the American Dietetic
Association (2007) concluded that, children who regularly consume soft
drinks and other sugar sweetened beverages between meals may be at a
higher risk of becoming overweight.
Another study showed that over the past several decades, an increase
in the consumption of soft drinks has paralleled an increase obesity.
(Gaby, 2005) Another researcher Schulze and his colleagues, using
longitudinal data from the Nurses Health Study II (1991-1999 data),
showed that a higher consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages was
associated with an increase in weight and an increased risk of
developing type 2 diabetes among women (Schulze et al. 2004).
These are few of the studies which show an association with increased
soft drinks consumption and obesity and other diseases. However, more
research is needed to better define the relationship and the extent of
the contribution of soft drinks.
Occasionally, you can have a soft drink with a meal but the adverts
and billboards the ‘Kokah Kolah’ company is displaying are very
misleading and can lead to people making poor dietary choices. In
conclusion, let us make the right and healthy choices for ourselves
and our children. If you want something sweet with your meal, get an
orange, banana or a slice of pineapple and please don’t add a soft
drink to the meal.
REFERENCES
Dubois, L. A. (2007). Regular Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption
between Meals Increases Risk of Overweight among Preschool-Aged
Children. Journal of the American Dietetic Association Volume 107,
Issue 6, Pages 924-934.
Gaby AR. Adverse effects of dietary fructose. Altern Med Rev. 2005;10:294–306
Schulze MB, Manson JE, Ludwig DS, et al. Sugar-sweetened beverages,
weight gain, and incidence of type 2 diabetes in young and middle-aged
women. JAMA.2004;292:927–934
--
dzidzor sackey
DIETITIAN AND TEACHER, UNIV. OF GHANA
Because my personal lawyer hasn’t finished law school yet and I don’t
want to risk any Gargantuan legal scenario I won’t mention specific
names. I have noticed some nice billboards with 2 ladies on it eating
a nice meal with a bottle beside it. The billboards imply that to have
an interesting meal, add a bottle of soft drink. What saddens me is
the sign of the heart somewhere on the page also implying having a
soft drink with a meal is interesting and would help your heart.
The ‘Kokah Kolah’ company is not breaking any legal laws for all I
know but this range of adverts is very unethical and it is sad the
Ministry of Health and Food and Drugs Board has not spoken against it.
Unfortunately, the media houses who also accept this adverts and
others like it clearly show where their priorities lie. Had it been a
political story, it will have made prime-time news and be on all radio
morning shows.
The facts are that; non-communicable diseases such as Diabetes,
Obesity, Hypertension and other Heart diseases are killing more
Ghanaians than even HIV. Research has been carried out in other
advanced countries which has shown that soft drinks consumption
contributes to rise in obesity and the non-communicable diseases I
mentioned.
‘Kokah Kolah’ contains sugar, some colour and water. The sugar
contained in a small bottle is equivalent to that in 9 cubes. This is
gotten from the nutrition information they provide on their bottles.
Combining this with a meal will most likely cause you to consume more
calories than you need and this predisposes you to become obese and
start you on the journey to Diabetes and the rest of its brothers.
A study conducted by Dr Dubois who is the Canada Research Chair in
Nutrition and Population Health, Department of Epidemiology and
Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa in
Canada and published in the Journal of the American Dietetic
Association (2007) concluded that, children who regularly consume soft
drinks and other sugar sweetened beverages between meals may be at a
higher risk of becoming overweight.
Another study showed that over the past several decades, an increase
in the consumption of soft drinks has paralleled an increase obesity.
(Gaby, 2005) Another researcher Schulze and his colleagues, using
longitudinal data from the Nurses Health Study II (1991-1999 data),
showed that a higher consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages was
associated with an increase in weight and an increased risk of
developing type 2 diabetes among women (Schulze et al. 2004).
These are few of the studies which show an association with increased
soft drinks consumption and obesity and other diseases. However, more
research is needed to better define the relationship and the extent of
the contribution of soft drinks.
Occasionally, you can have a soft drink with a meal but the adverts
and billboards the ‘Kokah Kolah’ company is displaying are very
misleading and can lead to people making poor dietary choices. In
conclusion, let us make the right and healthy choices for ourselves
and our children. If you want something sweet with your meal, get an
orange, banana or a slice of pineapple and please don’t add a soft
drink to the meal.
REFERENCES
Dubois, L. A. (2007). Regular Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption
between Meals Increases Risk of Overweight among Preschool-Aged
Children. Journal of the American Dietetic Association Volume 107,
Issue 6, Pages 924-934.
Gaby AR. Adverse effects of dietary fructose. Altern Med Rev. 2005;10:294–306
Schulze MB, Manson JE, Ludwig DS, et al. Sugar-sweetened beverages,
weight gain, and incidence of type 2 diabetes in young and middle-aged
women. JAMA.2004;292:927–934
--
dzidzor sackey
DIETITIAN AND TEACHER, UNIV. OF GHANA
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