With humor, President John Dramani Mahama has poked fun at Ghanaians’ passion for big late-night meals, advising the public to eat less of such dishes as part of initiatives to encourage healthier lifestyles.
The President connected the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) to modern diets and more sedentary lifestyles during the launch of the Free Primary Healthcare Initiative on Wednesday, April 15.
He painted a typical picture of long workdays that conclude with large evening meals, warning that this habit might have detrimental consequences for one’s health.
“Quit eating banku at night,” he advised with a smile, eliciting laughter from the crowd, before adding that dinner should ideally be consumed earlier in the evening.
“If you enjoy heavy foods, aren’t active, and are seated still, yet complain that your fufu or banku is too little. You want a big bowl of fufu that you can eat every day.
Sometimes you eat it before bed. Eat your dinner and refrain from eating anything else after 7 p.m. Simply choose a cup of tea or something if you’re hungry. Avoid eating any heavy meals. Why, you ask, do you make your weary wife go out and get you banku at ten o’clock after you come home from work in the evening?
President Mahama also made a comparison between past and present lifestyles, pointing out that in earlier generations, people’s diets were balanced by strenuous physical activities like agriculture, unlike today’s mostly sedentary lifestyles.
“Our fathers were physically active, they used to go to the farm and expend energy, but they used to eat banku and co at night. We don’t engage in any physical activity at all. You wake up in the morning, have breakfast, go to work, sit at your desk from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., drive back home, and then ask for your banku when you arrive. To merit banku, what kind of physical activity did you engage in?
As part of the Free Primary Healthcare Initiative, which also stresses public education as a key strategy to address the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases, the President made remarks that were part of a wider appeal for lifestyle changes.
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