*Orange fleshed sweet potatoes to beat vitamin A deficiency, malnutritionCan regular intake of beverages such as soft drinks, chocolate, coffee, and fruit juices lead to non communicable diseases like diabetes, hypertension, heart attack, erectile dysfunction, piles, cancer and kidney failure' Nutritionists provide answers. CHUKWUMA MUANYA reports.NUTRITIONISTS are unanimous in their verdict: the upsurge in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Nigeria is not due to increase in intake of beverages or any single nutrient but overindulgence in 'poor diets'/processed foods and sedentary lifestyles.The nutritionists at the 42nd Annual General Meeting & Scientific Conference of the Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN) held last week in Asaba, Delta State said the golden rule of nutrition is taking variety of foods and in moderation.The Conference tagged: 'Nutrition, Food Security, MDGs & National Development was co-sponsored by Coca Cola, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), Helen Keller International and the Delta State Government.The nutritionists asked Nigerians to go back to traditional foods, reduce their intake of processed foods and increase their physical activities.Also, the nutritionists at the conference kick-started a partnership with Helen Keller International (HKI) to introduce a new variety of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP) that is hardy, tasty and has high vitamin A content as a strategy to reduce vitamin A deficiency and improve infant and young child nutrition.They said the initiative focuses on women who both grow the crop for their own households' consumption as well as sell it to generate additional income. HKI has started pilot studies in four states in Nigeria to promote the production and consumption of this nutritious food, and provide information and training to communities about basic nutrition and improved young child feeding practices.Out-going President of NSN, Prof. Ignatius Akhakhia Onimawo told The Guardian: 'Now some of the causes of NCDs arises from so many factors. One is that we have changed our diets so much that most of our diets no longer contains fibre because we take a lot of processed foods so the fibre that would have helped to lower the density of such foods in terms of sugar content energy and the rest is removed.'He continued: 'Lifestyle has changed, we are very sedentary these days, we don't exercise as we use to do before and when you don't exercise most of the energy you eat is converted to fat and gradually you become overweight and from there to obesity. Once you become obese many things can happen to you. You are now predisposed to so many NCDs. So people who are obese are normally advised to change their lifestyle so that they can exercise more, give their muscle tone what we call metabolic tone then if you are able to do that even if you are fat and you are highly energetic, you are involved in exercises you are not likely to have problems.'A professor of nutrition at the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State and past President NSN, Tunde Oguntona, told The Guardian: 'I am not aware of any publication that has associated sugar sweetened drinks with obesity directly. We have always known that the issue of obesity is a complex one that involves lifestyle, food intake, sedentary lifestyle and so on. We have always known that the degree of relationship has not been fully established.''Sugar, table sugar has not been implicated directly in the cause of obesity or NCDs. On the other hand there are other factors like sedentary lifestyle, sitting down all day and not doing exercise that is a major contribution to obesity.'Associate professor of nutrition at the University of Maiduguiri, Borno State, Dr. Mrs. Elizabeth Chibuzor, told The Guardian that there is no straightforward answer to whether beverages such as Coke, Fanta or Sprite can cause NCDs because for every NCDs there are factors, multi-factorial variables that are associated with the disease.'Chibuzor said a recent study conducted by her team showed that more thin people than obese people in the sample population had diabetes because they ate foods high in fat and starch, and low in protein.A consultant nutritionist and the Health and Wellness Manager for Coca Cola Central, East and West Africa, Julia Otaya, in a paper presented at the conference titled: 'Soft Drinks Linkage to NCDs: Myths or Facts'' said the risk factors of NCDs are poor diet, excessive intake of calories, low physical activities and tobacco intake.Otaya explained: 'Basically what I am trying to communicate is that when it comes to the golden rules of nutrition, eating a variety of foods is very important and moderation is important depending on someone's energy needs that is very important. But when you look at the incidences of NCDs, the risk factors are actually very clear. They are poor diet, excessive intake of calories and very low levels of physical activity has actually been mentioned as one of the main causes of non communicable diseases. I think those are some of the issues that we actually need to address. We cannot be able to target a single nutrient as the cause of NCDs.''The World Health Organisation (WHO) actually just give specifically what are the causes and they actually mentioned tobacco, alcohol intake and of course the whole issue of obesity that leads to many other diseases and for me the take-home message is for you to ensure you lower the risk of you getting NCDs. Take care of your diet, watch your weight, engage in physical activity because it is important and then an intake of lots of fruits and vegetables in the diet is very important and then the intake of fibre, that is also very important and of course other lifestyle changes. So that will be my take-home message. Let us not target one single source of nutrient as a cause of NCD because it is multifactorial,' he said.On the link of sweetened beverages to erectile dysfunction, Otaya said: 'Apparently some of the myths that have been mentioned is that people think that erectile dysfunction is actually caused by taking sugar-sweetened beverages but when you look at the erectile dysfunction it is clear it is because of medical-related or physical reasons like having a chronic disease even being obese or having prostate cancer or undergoing surgery in the prostate area. I mean the causes of erectile dysfunction are very clear so we cannot actually say that intake of sugar sweetened beverages can cause erectile dysfunction.'On the link of soft drinks such as Coca Cola to piles, the nutritionist said: 'Sugar sweetened beverages have not been pointed to be the cause of piles. I mean the causes of pile are very clear, it is either you are constipated or you have diarrhea. Those are actually the major causes of pile. Of course diet plays a very big role so if you have a diet that is deficient of fibre, for example, you will be constipated and chances are that you can actually get pile. I don't think that sugar sweetened beverages on their own can actually cause piles because there are many other factors.'Reacting to the safety of the colouring agents and sweetners used in making soft drinks including Coca Cola products, Otaya said: 'It is not about saying that aspartame is healthy, is it safe' When you look at the list of sweeteners that have been recommended by European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) and United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) aspartame is actually one of the sweeteners that have been actually recognized as safe and they can be used as a sweetener.'So many studies have been done and it has been really researched and it has really been endorsed as safe although we also have negative studies that have associated aspartame with cancer but they can actually not been proven but it is actually recognized as safe and can be used as a sweetener.'Public Affairs and Communications Manager for Coca Cola Nigeria, Clems Ugorji, said there is a role for beverages and that includes soft drinks, and juices in a healthy nutrition, not just for the individual but for the nation as well. 'So it is important for us to create partnerships with these critical stakeholders who can understand the issues and help us in the dissemination of these information and that is what we have started,' he said.Ugorji further explained: 'The truth of the matter is that we need to make the messages as balanced and credible as possible and coming from us as a company alone is not the best way but creating partnership of trusted stakeholders who together with us can create these messages and express these messages will help the process.'He said Coca Cola provides choices for people. 'We have a portfolio of beverages that addresses people's needs at different life stages, different life occasions and different life situations. So basically we recognize the fact that people want beverages to refresh themselves and we also recognize that one beverage alone will not satisfy the needs of everybody which is the reason why we offer people choice.''If you have issues and you think that sugar is not good for or you do not like the taste of sugar, we offer you alternatives which is why we have Coke Lite and of course we have the Coke Zero which we are proud to say we are going to be launching in Nigeria early next year because right now it is not in the market, but we have concluded plans to have it launched in Nigeria early next year. We also have juice for people who think they want something that contain a lot more nutrition than just sparkling soft drinks, we have got juice, we have got the table water,' he also added.Ugorji said the third part of the Coca Cola programme has to do with active living because they realized that today lifestyles are changing, people are forced not necessarily by choice but because of conditions to live more sedentary lifestyles. 'You find out that children and teenagers have nowhere to go and exercise themselves and play. When those of us here were growing up we can play outside in the communities and all of that but today because of security issues and because of lifestyle changes you find out that children are boxed up in the home,' he said.Ugorji said Coca Cola is trying to create an outdoor activity and one of the things, which they have done at a very big stage, is Copa Coca Cola in order to encourage teenagers to exercise themselves.He said the organization has set up clubs Eva Fun Walk clubs encourage people to see the benefits in active living. 'Not just telling them because when you tell people and you don't create the opportunity it is almost useless but you educate them and you create the incentives and the platform for them to be able to do this,' Ugorji said.
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