“Eat smarter, cut the sugar” – Health Minister urges

…launches recipe book to tackle poor diets, rising lifestyle diseases

Noting that most noncommunicable diseases are linked to poor diet and nutrition, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony is urging Guyanese to start eating more intelligently, controlling not only the contents of their meals but also the portion sizes.
He made the remarks on Wednesday during the official launch of the Colourful Cooking, Healthy Living Recipe Book, which is intended to promote better nutrition among the population.
“We need to start getting people to think about their diet and to eat intelligently,” the Health Minister said.
He noted that “we’re seeing a lot more people in Guyana with chronic noncommunicable diseases” such as high blood pressure, heart diseases, and diabetes.
“In fact, we probably have maybe about 30,000 persons in Guyana that are coming to our institutions with diabetes…,” the Health Minister noted.
He explained that many of these health conditions are linked to poor diet, and if citizens want to live longer and healthier lives, they must change the way they eat.
“If we go in a restaurant and the people give us a little bit [of food], we feel they’re robbing us because we’re accustomed to a whole set of rice and other things, and maybe, that’s not necessarily healthy. So, we have to start managing our portion sizes,” Dr Anthony noted.
“We also see people who, when they’re having lunch maybe…you see them with a big bottle of soft drink, and that’s not healthy because the amount of sugar that is contained in these things; it is harmful for you…” Some people like a whole litre [of soft drink], and imagine the amount of sugar that you’re consuming when you do that,” he further stated.
The Health Minister is encouraging people to choose water over sugary beverages, challenging the notion that drinking water is a sign of poverty. “Water is good; drink lots of it, not all these sugary things.”
Dr Anthony explained that many in the diabetic clinics across the country, one of the biggest challenges is getting patients to change their diets, but he noted that “if they don’t change their diet, they will have a harder time managing their blood sugar”.
This, he explained, can lead to complications such as kidney diseases, issues with their eyesight, ulcers, and, in extreme cases, amputation.
“We’ve seen over the last couple of years where persons with diabetes would progress with these complications, and in fact, a lot of the patients that we have on dialysis now are patients who probably have diabetes,” he noted.
According to Dr Anthony, “A lot of these things can be prevented, and one way is to start thinking more intelligently about what we are eating.”