Gambians have a very strong sweet tooth. One only has to
watch them make tea to see the truth of this statement. Whether it is Fatajo
(my office mate) and his three spoonfuls of sugar in every cup of tea (and he
is constantly drinking tea), or the family in my compound making and drinking
their many small glasses of green tea, the sugar is not lacking. So, for a girl
who is used to artificial sweeteners, my life is now overflowing with real sugar!
Cups of sugared tea and wanjo will be the death of me! Whether this is good for
my own sweet tooth or not is going to be the question!
When talking with the director of the Epidemiology Control
Unit, or any health professional in this country, one of the first health
problems they mention is the increasing rates of diabetes in the Gambia. I am
no longer surprised by this, but now wonder how difficult it would be to change
the behavior of an entire country and their love of sugared tea. It is not only
the drinking of the tea that they enjoy; it is the interaction with friends and
family. It is the tradition of making and sharing the tea and conversation
which the community revolves around. So if you remove the tea, will the social
fabric of the country have to change? While watching my neighbors make tea
yesterday evening (see the picture of Amadou to the left), we talked about the process of making the tea. When I
commented that the glasses were very small and wouldn't you want more, Alfu
told me that is the point. You take your time making each tiny pot of tea and
it means that people will visit longer and you will have a better chat with
your friends. During my first lecture for my class on risky health behaviors,
we talked about behavior change and the various stages of change. I asked the
students if there were any behaviors they were attempting to change and two
students spoke up. One mentioned drinking too much green tea and the other
staying up to late with friends. Both were aware of the health outcomes of
drinking too much tea or not getting enough sleep, but faced strong social
barriers to change. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for
this country of sweet-tooth’s and whether the health risks associated with too
much sugar will be recognized or a society centered around a tradition of
drinking sweet tea wins out in the end.
This is a great example for behavioral health ... no one wants to take away a tradition, even if it does have unhealthy aspects...and going to artificial sweeteners doesn't seem like the right answer...Maybe encouraging people to go down to 2 teaspoonfuls, instead of 1? HOWEVER, I know that I will want THREE teaspoons when I visit -- not so much b/c I have a sweet tooth, but because I DO really like sweet tea! Also, I wonder what the economic impact of reducing sugar would be? I sugar grown in Africa? I feel like I should know the answer to that, but I don't. It's a huge part of economic and social culture in the Caribbean; what role does it play economically in the Gambia?
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