Junk food is gaining ground in Morocco

Morocco stands out for elkhir, I'm pregnant (abundance), thanks to the generosity of its terroir. Fruits, vegetables, cereals and legumes, rich, diverse and tasty, have always guaranteed a balanced diet. Although these foods are no longer completely natural because of fertilizers, they remain less harmful than ultra-processed products.

Moroccan cuisine, with its multiple dishes, its dozens of varieties of tagine, its desserts, constitutes a healthy diet. Internationally renowned, ranked second in the world, it is nevertheless threatened.

“Junk food”: poor or poor quality food, industrialized, harmful to health. Ultra-processed products, full of chemical additives, including colorings, preservatives, artificial flavors, emulsifiers and flavor enhancers… Delicious, because they are saturated with sugar, salt and fat which encourage consumption. Rich in calories, they are however poor in essential nutrients for physical and mental health.

Industrial bread, pastries, chips, biscuits, cereal bars, candies, confectionery, soft drinks, fruit juices, sweetened and flavored yogurts, sausages, nuggets, sauces, snack and fast food products… These foods cause weight gain and lead to obesity. In Morocco, almost half of the population is overweight and one in five people is obese.

Obesity causes several serious diseases. Children and young people are most at risk: they no longer move due to screen addiction, snack while sitting and eat poorly. Parents easily give in to children who demand ultra-processed foods. Lunches in schools and home deliveries make their consumption easier.

A child must eat a balanced diet and parents must take action, which is not the case. In a wedding ceremony, I saw a father deliver a meal from a famous fast food restaurant to his teenage daughter. “Poor thing, she hates Moroccan cuisine!» I was scandalized, especially when we know the diversity of foods in our ceremonies.

Life in cities imposes new habits. Lack of time, especially when women work outside the home, encourages easy and quick consumption instead of cooking healthy foods. Sometimes affordable prices encourage families who do not check the quality of food. Junk food has even spread to rural areas where the consumption of yogurts, biscuits, drinks and others is becoming common.

Work schedules favor junk food. Employees eat in their company restaurants or in snack bars. The wisest people report a meal cooked at home, but the workplace rarely has premises equipped for their consumption.

With globalization, fast-food chains have set up in Morocco and have impacted traditional gastronomy. Aggressive marketing and advertising condition our young people, urban or rural, through television, social networks and billboards in the street.

“The State should carry out awareness campaigns, initiate nutritional education and above all regulate the advertising of harmful food products.”

Consumers are exposed to the risk of multiple chronic diseases: diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, certain cancers, cholesterol, blood pressure, strokes, etc. In Morocco, diabetes affects 2.7 million people, including 25,000 children. More than 2.2 million are pre-diabetic, in an intermediate phase which, if left untreated, leads to diabetes.

Growing children and young people lack essential nutrients absent in ultra-processed foods: vitamins, minerals and fiber, resulting in digestive disorders such as constipation, bloating or irritated bowel syndrome. The immune system weakens and the subject becomes vulnerable to diseases and infections.

Junk food causes depression, anxiety, and reduced concentration due to the absence of vitamins and omega, essential for mental well-being. Not to mention the damage sugar has on your teeth.

Consumed regularly, these foods cause fatigue and reduce physical and mental performance: the sugar contained creates energy peaks which drop suddenly, leading to exhaustion.

Junk food is responsible for hormonal imbalances: it disrupts the hormonal system, such as thyroid hormones and sex hormones. Fertility may suffer. Finally, junk food is responsible for premature aging of the skin. A diet without fresh vegetables and fruits deprives the person of antioxidants which protect the skin from free radicals, accelerators of aging.

In summary, regular consumption of junk food is dangerous for physical and mental health.

We Moroccans are lucky enough to observe the dietary excesses of developed countries which are ahead of us in several areas. These countries, which invented and developed ultra-processed foods, are now sounding the alarm to stop the dangers and return to healthy eating. Major awareness campaigns are organized to relearn populations how to eat fruits, vegetables, cereals, etc.

We must learn from this and avoid the same excesses, by eating fresh foods with little or no processing, by trying to cook more often to know what we are eating and by revaluing our culinary art and our traditional eating habits.

The State should carry out awareness campaigns, initiate nutritional education and above all regulate the advertising of harmful food products. It must also tax fatty and sugary products, like what is done in other countries. All to protect the population, and also because junk food has a high price, that of medical care costs.