Will inflation in Egypt lead to high rate of obesity?

Food prices in Egypt are soaring as a result of the country’s weak economy and shortage of hard currency, leading many people in the low and middle-income classes to turn away from animal-based food, prices of which have doubled in just one year, and consume more carbs.

Some Egyptians spoke to Jusoor Post affirming that their intake of carbs increased recently as a result of the rampant inflation, saying that they have no other alternative to satiate themselves, which will make them vulnerable to obesity. However, nutrition specialists said obesity can be avoidable if people are aware of the culture of diet-associated health.   

Marwa Yahia, a 43-year-old mother, told Jusoor Post, “The vast majority of people are paid in Egyptian pounds, and the government’s recent increase in salaries is not commensurate with the size of inflation in prices. Therefore, people will resort to replacing animal protein with plant-based protein, which is also expensive and unavailable in some places.”

“Most families, if they were able to provide animal protein such as milk, eggs and meat, would prefer to give it to children who are in the stages of physical building, and therefore the heads of families will fill their stomachs with rice, pasta and bread, which poses a risk of weight gain and thus harms health,” she added. 

For Mohamed Adel, a newly married man, his family used to consume more meat and chicken than carbohydrates, from four to five times a week, but now the family eats animal protein only two or three times.

“We resort to having more rice, pasta and potatoes, because meat prices have become very high. Even the high prices of carbs are somewhat cheaper than meat, so making pasta and potatoes is cheaper than buying chicken, which is difficult to find every day,” he said.

“It is a mistake to eat more carbohydrates. It must be proportional [to make a balanced diet],” Adel continued, adding, “Although it is wrong and leads to excess fat, this is a reality that we live in.”

Meanwhile, Doaa Samir, a 35-year-old mother, said that before the rise in prices, the Egyptian people were normally able to eat two types of carbs, such as bread and potatoes, but the rate of their carb intake of bread, potatoes and pasta will increase with a decline in meat consumption. She added that even if these carbs are expensive, they do not reach exorbitant prices like meat.

Inflation in Egypt increased by 31.9 percent in February 2023, compared with 10 percent in the same month of last year, the state-owned Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced on March 9.

The increase was attributed to the high prices of some basic commodities like grains, poultry, meat, seafood, and dairy products. The Egyptian government has devaluated the national currency by more than 50 percent since March 2022 as the country, which imports most of its needs like fodder for the poultry industry, suffers from a shortage of hard currency that is needed for importations.

The price of one kilo of meet reached 300 EGP, up from 170 EGP last year, while chicken prices rose to 80 EGP from 30 EGP per kilo.

Fatmah Waheed, an IASST-certified sport nutrition specialist in obesity and weight management, told Jusoor Post that having plant-based protein does not lead to or cause obesity. On the contrary, it has been proven to reduce heart diseases, hemophilia and blood pressure, and it is used for weight loss.

“Even those who are on a plant-based diet can take supplements for certain vitamins that only exist in animal protein, like B12 and L-carnitine,” she added.

However, Waheed continued, Egyptian people have no culture of following healthy diets, as they eat a lot of carbs that are cooked in an unhealthy way and make them obese.

“Egyptians do not have the culture to consume a variety of legumes,” she said, noting that she prescribes a diet that depends on different types of legumes that include all amino acids the body needs for those who find the prices of meat and chicken unaffordable.

“Due to the high prices, I take into account clients who may not be able to eat animal protein on a daily basis, and therefore I recommend for them all the best legumes that have the complete amino acids they need,” Waheed said, calling for launching awareness campaigns to promote diet-associated healthy practices.