If the saying “you
are what you eat” is to be taken seriously then we have a serious problem
around here, and this may reflect the situation in almost any rural area in
Tanzania. This article is based in rural Kilimanjaro, specifically in Hai and
Moshi rural districts. Except for children born to wealthy families, which are
few, or those that happen to have literate parents, especially mothers, which
are even fewer, I can safely say that a truly balanced diet is absolutely inaccessible
in these places. Consider an egg, I am prepared to bet my last ten thousand
shillings that among ten children picked at random only one has ever tasted an
egg. First of all the egg itself has problems coming into being at all as it
has to be laid whereas chicken here are not fed, they are left to scavenge
around farms for food so how would one expect to have eggs in the menu?.Again
consider milk, the amount and quality of food that is fed to cattle here ends
up just keeping the cow alive not productive beyond suckling its calf. Dry maize
stalks and slices of the banana trunk, the former is around 100% cellulose and
the later say 90% water, so what kind of cattle would derive sufficient milk
from such a mixture, forget milk.
As for other proteins there is a tradition of having meat of
whatever sort on the table with plantains or rice during Sundays only, a kilo
for a family of eight would leave your average child with 125 grams of meat per
week if the distribution was fair, but the father has special privileges so
your average kid is left with around 90 grams per week!, as for vitamins, well
we are good eaters of vegetables but fruits are picked and transported to towns
for sale so no lucky there. The main family menu constitutes the maize stiff
porridge ‘ugali’ and EITHER peas OR beans OR vegetables(note the
capitalization).I am not discussing how PETS are fed as I see dogs and cats
roaming around abattoirs waiting for discarded pieces and blood on Sundays but
on weekdays they have to scavenge around farms for rotting avocadoes or babies’
excrement or rob neighbors of chicks or eggs.They therefore hardly qualify for
the name pets.
Another danger that befalls our kids metabolic systems is
the easy and uncontrolled availability of soluble juice making powders from
various manufacturers in and out of the country. The juice making powders come
in tiny sachets of 1 to 2 grams ready to be diluted to two liters of water to
make the intended juice, the packaging
is targeted to children as the size, color, decoration and price indicate.The
ingredients are written in tiny lettering and a language that does not make
sense to the consumer. The instructions “NOT TO BE CONSUMED UNDILUTED” are also
written in the same size of letters and language so usually the contents are
consumed UNDILUTED. Again the consideration that a parent is most of the time
unaware that their kids lick such dangerous concoctions is apparently not a
matter of concern to neither the
retailers nor the producers as they are interested in the cash only. Otherwise
they would pack in larger quantities so that it is a family purchasable article
and would have taken the pain to put the instructions in the language of their
end users.The ingredients mostly are:
1.
Aspartame
2.
Dextrose
3.
Sodium Cyclamate
4.
Acidifying Agents(whatever those are)
5.
Coularants!
6.
Flavouvaring agents!
7.
Maltodextrin
And as if for a bonus: Contains Vitamin C.
Now to add salt to injury, mothers here have a tendency of
giving alcohol to their babies to make them sleep in order for the mothers to
work without interruption, they claim it is sweet and for that matter it has no
bad effect to the children!,the sweetness is from the ripe bananas used to make
the wine but the potency is unquestionable.
So while some societies complain of obesity we complain of
malnutrition,both in a way lifestyle diseases.
Residents of Orori village waiting for donated maize
Some of the dilute to drink juice sachets(www.tfda.or.tz please take note)
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