The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Only 12.2% of Ugandans consume the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables per day, according to a new survey by the Makerere University School of Public Health. The study, which analyzed the prevalence and distribution of risk factors for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) among Ugandans, found that 87.8% of the population is not consuming enough fruits.
This marks a slight increase from 86.4% in 2014 when a similar study was conducted. According to David Yawe Guwatudde, a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics who led the study team, for the last ten years, fruit and vegetable intake has not had significant changes even as awareness has increased and there are plenty fruits even in urban areas like Kampala.
These findings come at a time when experts are predicting a high and increasing prevalence of NCDs where one in four Ugandans are estimated to be living with hypertension and two in ten live with diabetes, some unknowingly. Now, the researchers have studied eight common risk factors for NCDs including inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables, alcohol consumption, tobacco use, inadequate physical activity, sedentariness, high blood pressure and glucose in addition to obesity.
4340 participants aged eighteen to sixty –nine who resided in a sampled household at least six months preceding the date of the survey were involved in the study and when it comes to fruits respondents were asked whether they ate an average of five servings of fruits per day in the past one week. Mary Mbuliro, a Research Associate at Makerere University School of Public Health says they assessed fruit intake per region and found a decline in fruit intake in the central region.
Meanwhile of all the risk factors, its only tobacco use that has had a decline in the last ten years. Alcohol use according to the researchers has only been found to increase with one in three people currently taking alcohol.
When these results were put to Dr. Oyoo Charles Akiya, the Commissioner of Health Services-Non-Communicable Diseases at the Ministry of Health, he called for increased awareness as beating NCDs requires more individual action and involvement.
However, he noted that they can only do so much as funds allocated to tackling NCDs are limited. Guwatudde says in the absence of funds, there are small behaviors that individuals can do which will make a bigger difference in countering NCDs. For alcohol, he for instance says a user may start by reducing intake and seek help in case they are battling addiction.
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