The malnutrition shocker from Colombo

Quite understandably, the news that Colombo district has registered an exceptionally high percentage of malnutrition has shocked many. Malnutrition is usually causatively linked to poverty and underdevelopment, but the poser is, how could this ominous phenomenon emerge in Colombo, of all districts in the country, since the greatest wealth-creation is also believed to be centred in Colombo?

Apparently, malnutrition could go hand-in-hand with wealth and opulence because money alone would not determine the nutritional content of one’s diet. A person could be wealthy and have the money-power but could still be very unwise on what he or she chooses to eat.

This seems to be very much the case, and what is amiss is adequate education and public awareness on what constitutes a nutritious, balanced diet. Despite primary school textbooks on health and hygiene being replete with instructions on what constitutes a nutritious meal, public awareness of these matters seems to be woefully lacking.

So, the tasks for the authorities are twofold: one, arrest the ill-health and connected problems that come in the wake of malnutrition; two, raise public awareness on the issue of malnutrition through a sustained awareness - building programme, aimed at prompting wise choices at the popular level on one’s food intake. It could be seen that this is quite a chore for the Health Minister and other relevant authorities who are tasked with monitoring the health of the nation and ensuring that good health prevails among the people.

Nevertheless, Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena deserves commendation for being frank about these matters. After all, the Western Province is touted in some sections as being the most dynamic wealth-generating region in the country and the news that the Province is glaringly backward in nutritional and health matters, is no good news for the government at all. But the truth should be confronted and this is being done adequately.

The other day, the Health Minister also mentioned Nuwara Eliya as another district which is notorious for malnutrition. This should not take many by surprise because poverty is no stranger to Nuwara Eliya. However, the CWC has been with successive governments and it does speak eloquently for ‘the work’ the CWC has been helping to carry out in the district, if malnutrition is rampant in the district. This is an eye-opener for the CWC and all other parties which are expected to look after the affairs of the district. The people of Nuwara Eliya, apparently, are not being cared for sufficiently and this drawback needs to be remedied.

Something thought-provoking which was mentioned by the Health Minister in connection with malnutrition in the two districts is that it is going alongside a huge intake of wheat-based food items by the public. This is tantamount to saying that urban-based diets are dominated by starch - a key causative factor in diabetes which is, of course, now almost an epidemic in Sri Lanka.

Apparently, this subject of malnutrition is pregnant with research possibilities. One line of inquiry is that a predominantly starch-based diet cannot guard against malnutrition and all the ills it brings. The other is that the general public is blissfully ignorant as to what a staple, healthy diet consists of and are recklessly bent on consuming all the ‘poisons’ that are not at all suitable for them. Another interesting line of research for nutritionists and other relevant personnel is that poverty does not necessarily exist in tandem with malnutrition. For instance, is malnutrition rampant in the North-Central Province? If so, what is the percentage?

These interests apart, what is glaringly obvious is that considerable sections of the public are not at all concerned about their health. Thus, the public needs to be jolted back to its senses on health matters. This is a crying need.