By Steve Chirombo

Dedza, December 12, Mana: The Non Communicable Disease (NCD) Coordinator for Dedza District Health Office has warned parents and guardians against the tendency of denying certain foods to type-1 sugar patients, saying the trend is contributing to stunted growth thereby resulting into more malnutrition levels in the district.

The NCD Coordinator, James Manda, told Malawi News Agency on Monday in an interview that unlike the type-2 sugar patients whose cells in pancreas become dormant and are advised to always be on oral drugs, the type-1 sugar patients are allowed to eat anything as long as they inject themselves 30 minutes before taking a particular food.

Said Manda: “This is so because type-1 sugar patients lack insulin and if they have injected themselves the insulin 30 minutes before the meal, they can eat anything they want because if we forbid them taking some foods, they can experience stunted growth that can end in malnutrition.”

According to Manda, the type-1 sugar disease is common in people of age ranges from five to 30 while type-2 sugar disease is common in those above 30 years.

He further said their main worry lies on some wrong messages, especially on health diet for type-1 sugar patients who are not allowed to eat some foods that are important like meat and other sugary drinks.

“We believe this results from myths within the communities and there could be some health workers disseminating this information in a wrong way. Injection in type-1 sugar patients depends on how many times one takes food. If it’s three times a day, then the patients should inject themselves 30 minutes before taking any food,” emphasized Manda.

He cited frequent urination, increased thirst and frequent hunger as common signs calling on communities to visit the hospital for screening or tests once they experience these.