Consultant Family Physician and Diabetologist at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. Roberta Lamptey has cleared the air about her last statement that the size of banku one eats shouldn’t be bigger than the size of an egg.
In an interview with Sefa Danquah on Happy 98.9FM’s Happy Morning Show she said, “People misunderstood my last statement.The term carbohydrate is a broad term and we have lots of carbohydrate foods some of which include fruits and vegetables. My point the last time was that, irrespective of the carbohydrate you consume the end product after digestion contains sugar hence you should be cautious the amount of carbohydrates you consume which includes banku”.
According to her, she was only trying to educate Ghanaians on how to measure and manage the carbohydrates they eat because too much of it is harmful to their health.
She explained that self management education affects people’s choices and that is what she and her team are always trying to promote and deliver self management education in a structured way.
“We believe that education can change behavior and certain behaviors are associated with certain chronic conditions. Per our research, Ghanaians have a problem. About 43% of Ghanaian adults are either overweight or obese and in Greater Accra region alone, people with diabetes are overweight or obese all because of the amount of carbohydrates they eat” she said.
She noted that people need to understand these things in order to avert any pressure that will build up in the digestive system and on the human body hence the education.