When 54-year-old Mohammed Aliyu realised in 2019 that he could not properly move the right part of his body, he knew there was a problem.
Aliyu, who is based in Abuja, is a political correspondent of a national daily.
Sometimes in 2018, while living in Jos, he had experienced a persistent headache which prompted him to go for a medical checkup and was diagnosed with high blood pressure.
The years 2018 and 2019 were years full of political activities in Nigeria. As a political reporter, there was so much pressure on him.
“I have been practising journalism for 24 years, and I rarely have time for myself.” This made him a regular patron of restaurants, eating whatever was available.
In the early hours of Christmas Day 2019, Aliyu was about to get out of bed when he suddenly noticed a lack of coordination on the right side of his body.
“I felt something unusual around my leg. I couldn’t move my right hand and the right side of my face. I was already stuttering. Thank God my wife was around to rush me to the General Hospital in Kubwa.
“At the hospital, I was told my blood pressure was high. I was also told my cholesterol level was very high. The doctor said my eating habit, among other things, could be responsible for this.
Excess fatty food as looming danger
While cholesterol, a fat-like waxy substance, is needed to build body cells, high cholesterol levels are found to be detrimental to health. Studies have shown that a poor and unhealthy diet and eating unsaturated or trans fat can result in high cholesterol.
Adebiyi Obasanjo, a physician cardiologist at the University of Osun Teaching Hospital, explained the nexus between cholesterol and trans fat.
“The high intake of any food that contains fat and sugar would increase the level of cholesterol in the body. This causes obesity and because there is a lot of salt in what people eat, coupled with a lack of exercise, it could increase blood pressure. Also, a lot of refined sugar added to these foods increases the rate of diabetes.
“When you put all these together, the risk of hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol is very high.”
From journalists diaries
For Osaretin Osadebamwen, an environmental reporter with the Nigerian Tribune, junk food like meat pie and egg rolls come in handy whenever he’s on the field reporting.
“Once I eat either of these with a carbonated drink, I will be fine and continue to write stories in a hurry.” he explained humorously.
Sometimes in 2020, he was diagnosed with high blood pressure.
“I took high blood pressure for granted and the unthinkable happened: I suffered a partial stroke.”
On April 15 2021, he was writing the report from an earlier event he had attended that day and decided to go home but could not move further after standing up.
“I was still standing over my table when suddenly my right hand went numb and was uncontrollably behaving on its own. My wrist was shaking uncontrollably. Immediately, I felt like urinating. I told my friend I would need his assistance to get to the restroom. I told him not to let people know that I was ill. I got to the restroom and I just couldn’t hold my private part to ease myself. I couldn’t do the last shake-off of the urine because I couldn’t use my hand,” he explained.
He was taken to a nearby clinic where a doctor made a verbal diagnosis of brain damage and was immediately referred to the National Hospital.
“When I got to the National Hospital, I was placed on a wheelchair, and then I became unconscious,” he said.
The journalist said he was eventually diagnosed with a partial stroke.
Similarly, Blessing Agbeetan, a broadcast journalist with Splash 105.5 FM in Ibadan said her busy work schedule made her accustomed to snacks like an egg-roll, which is her favourite.
“Most times, I am busy trying to come up with programme ideas, trying to edit while also meeting deadlines, and I do not have the luxury of time to look for food or sit somewhere to get a proper meal. So I try as much as possible to munch on something. Also, I get home exhausted and just want to eat something fast that can sustain me for the night,” she said.
A freelance investigative journalist in Lagos, Gabriel Ogunjobi, whose job takes him across different states, said he is not too liberal regarding cultural adaptability. That drives him to always opt for fried junk meals such as bread, burger, biscuit and carbonated drinks while on duty.
“I am from the South-west and I don’t expect to be in the East and immediately get accustomed to their food. I won’t go around asking for my local food, and I don’t want anything to affect my body system that will restrict me from doing my job. That is the drive for taking junk foods most times,” he said.
Ifedayo Ogunyemi is a senior reporter with the Nigerian Tribune in Ibadan. He said a grocery store directly opposite his office makes it easy for him to walk in and get biscuits whenever he feels the urge to eat.
Clarifications
A consultant cardiologist at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, Akintunde Adeseye, defined trans fat as unsaturated and the worst type of fat that are obtained in fried, stored and fast foods like cakes, pies, doughnuts, etc.
“When you talk about trans fat, it ordinarily means partially hydrogenated oil or unsaturated fat. It’s the worst oil that enhances cholesterol formation and induces a very bad pathology in the arteries and the veins. It’s usually obtained from diets and has much impact on health. Too much trans fat is present in processed foods and many fast foods we consume which causes an increase in heart disease/problems. They are a major risk because they increase heart disease,” he said.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), trans-fat or trans-fatty acids (TFAs) are unsaturated fatty acids from either natural or industrial sources. Naturally occurring trans fat comes from ruminants while industrially produced trans fat is formed in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to vegetable oil converting the liquid into solid, resulting in partially hydrogenated oil (PHO).
Partially hydrogenated oil TFA project advisor, Network for Health Equity and Development (NHED), Jerome Mafeni said PHOs are the oils that are created by industries for industrial food production.
He noted that PHOs produce food at very high temperatures, leading to the generation of trans fatty acids (TFA). He
“So most food cooked in those major food establishments that use PHO will generally have a high content of TFA,” he explained.
Data from WHO shows that trans fat is a significant contributor to cardiovascular diseases and is responsible for over 17.9 million deaths annually, representing 32 percent of all global deaths.
The global health organisation further noted that of these deaths, 85 per cent were due to heart attack and stroke.
“From 2000 to 2019, deaths from ischaemic heart disease rose faster than deaths from any other disease, increasing from more than two million in 2000 to nearly nine million in 2019”.
In Nigeria, out of the 854,000 deaths that occurred in 2019, about 16 per cent (137,000) were attributed to cardiovascular deaths and 3,229 (0.38 per cent) were attributed to TFA-related cardiovascular deaths.
Osaruonamen Ibizugbe (Osas), a journalist and project officer at the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, could easily pass for a size six. Unlike other journalists whose reasons for consuming foods high in trans fat come with writing stories in a hurry, Osas said her desperation to get fat is why she daily consumes fried junk foods.
“I eat junk particularly because I feel it contains a lot of fats. I concentrate on eating a lot of it whenever I feel the need to get fat”.
Despite hearing many times that the consumption of fried junk food is not healthy, many journalists said they were hearing the word ‘trans fat’ for the first time and are oblivious of the gross consequences of high consumption of trans fatty foods.
Good look can be deceptive
Contrary to this belief, Mr Obasanjo, a health expert, said looking healthy can be a camouflage.
“People can look fit outside and not healthy inside. How many of them (journalists) have gone for checkups? Ideally, it would be best if you do a checkup at least once a year,” he said.
On his part, the executive director of Nigerian Heart Foundation, Kingsley Akinroye, said journalists should be concerned about their health because the accumulation of fat in the body has been documented scientifically to cause diseases in the blood vessels.
“It can also be indicated in other conditions like diabetes and cancer. Still, essentially, the most effective is evidenced in the heart and the blood vessels and that’s why there should be a concern because the heart is very sensitive and affects the longevity and the healthy living of the individual,” he said.Times
Sourced from Premium Times
