Kenya: a malnourished nation

One of the traditional basic needs of human beings is food. It is very helpful for the proper functioning of the body. That is, it provides energy and minerals to help reform the body after its tear and wear. Hence people go a milestone to have it daily on their tables. Otherwise without it, they do not get proper development and good health. It is this reason that food security is among the four key pillars of the Jubilee government. 

But then, how far, has Kenyans as a nation tamed the issue of food in the country? Do we abuse food, as we do at times with drugs and alcohol? 

The big story of Baby Ethai’s health in the Turkana County published in the Healthy Nation dated Tuesday October 15, 2019 tells it all. 

He is fed, day in day out, with only porridge! A 100% carbohydrate-dominated diet. With no other components like protein and vitamins, he suffers acute malnutrition. His story is just but a tip of the iceberg of different cases of malnutrition in the country. Unfortunately, as a nation we are losing the battle on food security. 

It is good to note that, food security equally entails healthy feeding, for hunger and obesity coexist. Hence, for a nation to secure itself on matters food, there are a number of factors to consider. Here, I pick only two which I esteem important. 

Primo, the type of food we eat.

This year’s international World Food Day focuses on the quality of food in our diet. We not only eat food, but we check on what type of food we eat. It is a noble call “to make healthy and sustainable diets affordable and accessible to everyone”. Am on the adjective “healthy”. This means that we should consume variety of food stuff that gives our bodies the necessary nutrients for proper growth.

Unfortunately majority of Kenyans eat unhealthily. Our appetites have made us experts of quick junk food and drinks. This is empirically evident in every busy street of towns and cities whose six out of ten stores are food dens, with fried meal’s odour filling the street lanes. The order is done quickly; chips and kuku funga! And repeated daily! No wonder we are at high risk of obesity, cancer and heart complications leading to death. 

Unlike the parents of the Baby Ethai, we are advised to balance our diet. Yes, fries but also vitamins and minerals too.

Secundo, food storage and preservation.

I hope we no longer have unfit-for-human consumption preservatives added to the food stuffs in the food market. As someone once said, we Kenyans are a forgetful lot. It’s my humble hope that we have not forgotten about the “Red Alert”, in which discovery was made on how we consume higher concentration of sodium metabulsifite meant to make the meat appear red and juicy! 

Our food is not clean! This at times is due to poor storage, which then leads to food poisoning. Those of us who like take away meals and sometime carry food to work, do we ever check the conditions under which we store the food? Do we warm them to reduce the presence of bacteria in them before consumption? Are our grains in the stores safe for consumption? Is the Kenya Bureau of Standards checking the food stuff that stay longer in our supermarkets? 

Let us recheck our food before we eat, for we eat to live and not live to eat.