Africa-Press – Lesotho. DESPITE being 72, Mathembile Molemi says she does not feel old. Fit as a fiddle, Molemi is not surprised that age hasn’t taken a toll on her. Her elder brother died at 92 in 2019 from tuberculosis after being exposed to silica dust in South African mines where he had worked for years.
“My parents died aged 81 and 86. It runs in the family,” said Molemi, who lives in Ha Tsiu. Eating healthy is the family’s secret to longevity, reckons Molemi, a livestock farmer who also grows vegetables and cereals.
She also is a health worker, mainly training people on how to maintain good health through eating well. Raised on a farm in South Africa’s Zastron (Matlakeng)’s area, Molemi’s parents survived on the land when they moved to Lesotho in Mohales’ Hoek at Phamong in the early 1920s.
Urbanised and westernised, many Basotho shun traditional foods for fast foods and other nutritional practices that leave them vulnerable to disease and early death.
For many, dietary issues are the least of their priorities, especially it if means foregoing loved treats such as junk food. Yet in a country with a weak public health system, eating healthy could significantly contribute to the well-being of many Basotho and save lives.
Diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes and depression are associated with poor eating habits, said Neo Mokoara, an information officer in the Ministry of Agriculture.
People who eat healthy foods live longer because they don’t get attacked easily by disease, she said. “A lot of the times it is about eating healthy and giving the body a fighting chance,” said Makara, warning against the younger generation’s huge appetite for junk food.
“This is a generation where pregnant women crave for food like pizza. Instead of buying zimba chips and sweets, they should buy fruits and also exercise a lot,” she said.
Various studies globally have shown that a poor diet affects all body systems and puts people’s health at risk. Studies show that dietary intake contributes to longevity. This means the more people adhere to good nutrition, the longer they live. Molemi says her family bears testimony to such claims.
“We had to go to the garden and silos for us to eat, although we also slaughtered cattle, sheep or chickens,” said Molemi, recalling that her parents had fields where they grew cereals and varieties of vegetables.
Molemi says she and her four siblings grew up without eating fatty foods, with vegetables which grow naturally such as Leshoabe, tenane, seruoe and
thepe being part of their regular diet.
At her farm, Molemi said she has planted 200 fruit trees. She said she has ordered a machine which dry fruits as part of plans to produce dried mango, apple, banana as well as biltong.
“Our parents strictly monitored what we ate. From zero to five years old, good nutrition plays a major role in the development of a human being.
If a child does not eat well during those ages, the result is poor health,” said Molemi. She said even though her surviving siblings are all ageing, they have generally remained healthy.
“There is no one in our family who survives primarily on medication,” she said, recommending that the government should encourage healthy eating as part of its fight against Covid-19.
“I am also a witness to that,” chipped in Molemi’s 79-year old sister, Maletsoela Ntoi.
Ntoi said like her younger sister, she grows vegetables in her garden in Ha-Tsosane to ensure that she and the family have access to a variety of foods.
“It also saves money,” she said.
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