Healthy eating stakeholders meet in Accra ahead of United Nations Food Systems Summit

Healthy Food Lifestyle stakeholders gathered in Accra on Monday to deliberate on how to adopt safe food lifestyles in Ghana ahead of the United Nations Virtual Summit on the Food System scheduled for 23 September 2021 .

The orientation program, organized by the Institute of Leadership and Development (INSLA) aimed to reflect on the World Health Organization (WHO) framework for action for healthy food procurement and service policies ( PFP).

Participants from the health sector, academia, researchers, community organizations (CBOs), civil society organizations and the media decided to push the government to implement and enforce the provisions of the framework. action of the PFP.

Mr. Issah Ali, INSLA project coordinator stressed that INSLA and its allies have the task of ensuring that the government of Ghana implements and enforces the provisions of the framework. We need to identify and categorize the type of food products we consume and the types of hazards they pose to the end user, Mr. Issah Ali said.

The INSLA project coordinator noted that there is a global concern for nations to act and lobby for the implementation of policies aimed at curbing the canker of unhealthy eating lifestyles. Most of the foods we eat today make us unhealthy due to the availability of sugar and salt in them.

WHO, as the global agency for good health, has developed the PFP framework for action to be adopted and implemented by nations around the world. One of the objectives of the action framework according to the INSLA project coordinator is to provide advice on how the respective nations can fight canker.

The PFP framework of action according to Mr. Issah Ali has five basic principles which are to limit the consumption of free sugars, to limit the consumption of sodium, to switch from the consumption of saturated fats to unsaturated fats, to increase the consumption of whole grains, to vegetables and fruits and finally ensure the availability of free and safe drinking water for all.

The interactive program took place in two different sessions, the first session being virtual deliveries, when a health expert and lecturer from the School of Public Health at the University of Ghana, Professor Amos Laar and the Dr Joana Ansong from the WHO Ghana office took turns addressing participants via Zoom

Mr. Benjamin Anabila, the director of INSLA called on the participants to work diligently so that the objective of the meeting defended by INSLA is achieved. He called on CBOs and CSOs to take action to push the government to implement and enforce the policies.