Sunday, May 9, 2021

diabetes

Sugar in Moroccan Diet Causing Major Health Concerns

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By GRANGER TRIPP

Four oversized sugar cubes sit atop the mint leaves resting at the bottom of Fatima Hasson’s tin teapot.The taste is tough to beat – the cool refreshment of mint combined with the sugar’s sappy sweetness.

But, the excessive sugar consumption in the Moroccan diet comes at a price. The rate of diabetes is high in the country and is expected to double by 2030, according to the World Health Organization.

“About one and a half million people suffer from diabetes in our country,” said Dr. Jamal Belkhadir, President of the Moroccan League for the Fight Against Diabetes, in an article he published earlier this year.

Diabetes in Morocco

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By ISHAN THAKORE

Kaltoum Ben Cheqroun loves to cook Moroccan dishes, but rarely eats her meticulously prepared meals. She only nibbled at her home-made Sunday feast of salads, boiled sweet potatoes, sautéed chicken and fresh bread.

“You know when she wants to taste something [sweet], we always tell her it’s bad, it’s bad, it’s bad,” said her 20 year-old daughter Fatimzzohra. “But, you know, sometimes she wants to. She takes a little bit.”

Ben Cheqroun, 60, has Type 2 diabetes, which prevents her from eating her savory meals. Diabetes affects 8.3 percent of Moroccans and is now endemic in the Middle East and North Africa, according to the International Diabetes Foundation.

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