How cheap snacks are fueling non-communicable diseases

According to the Child Nutrition Report by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) almost half of Kenyan children under the age of two consume sweetened foods or drinks every day.

The 2025 study found that 46 percent of toddlers are regularly exposed to sugary products, while 35 percent often consume salty or fried foods.

On the flip side, 62 percent of Kenyan children do not eat eggs or meat, and 38 percent lack fruit and vegetables, leading to a reliance on nutrient-poor processed foods during weaning instead of the essential nutrients needed for healthy growth.

“The diet of a Kenyan child today looks very different from that of their parents,” said Dr Lydia Muthoni, a clinical dietitian based in Nairobi.

"Processed snacks and sugary drinks are no longer occasional treats, but everyday foods. The long-term effects are devastating because we are literally programming children for disease."

Meanwhile, overweight rates among Kenyan teenagers aged 15 to 19 have risen, with Unicef reporting that six to 11 percent are affected.

This issue affects both poor and wealthy households, indicating that being overweight is becoming widespread across all income groups.

"Kenya is moving deeper into a nutrition transition, shifting from undernutrition as the primary challenge towards a triple burden of malnutrition, including stunting, micronutrient deficiencies, and obesity," said Unicef.

According to the UN agency, the problem lies not only in the food itself, but also in the way it is marketed.

A study conducted in six countries, including Argentina, Kenya, Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines, and Uganda, found that people were highly exposed to digital advertising for unhealthy food and drink.

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In Kenya, for example, more than a quarter of the population is active on social media, with adolescents and young people estimated to spend two to three hours online each day.

Another analysis of 137 social media posts found that 88 percent promoted products high in fat, sugar, or salt. None of these promotions met the World Health Organization's standards for marketing food to children in Africa.

"This digital marketing is uniquely tailored to Kenya. It uses emotionally resonant themes such as family bonding, entertainment, social status, and personal identity formation, while exploiting adolescents' developmental vulnerabilities," the study noted.

Recent studies confirm that consuming processed foods affects more than just diet quality; it is also closely linked to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which impose a heavy burden on the healthcare system. Hypertension affects nearly 28.7 percent of Kenyan adults.

Diabetes was estimated to affect 3.6 percent of the population in recent years, and this figure is projected to rise.

Meanwhile, around 51 percent of Kenyan adults suffer from at least one NCD, with hypertension being the most common, followed by high total cholesterol.

Cardiovascular disease and cancer are among the leading causes of death associated with unhealthy lifestyles, accounting for more than a third of all deaths in Kenya (approximately 35 to 39 percent).

Notably, a significant proportion of these deaths occur in individuals under 40, indicating that younger, economically active populations are also affected.

“We are seeing patients in their thirties with hypertension, diabetes, and even strokes,” says Dr James Mwangi. ‘This was unheard of a generation ago. Unhealthy diets are fueling a silent epidemic that is overwhelming our clinics.”

Treatment and care for NCDs can be expensive.

A 2024 BMC Health Services Research estimated that managing type 2 diabetes in Kenya cost Sh74.5 million in 2021, with complications such as kidney disease accounting for almost 60 percent of that total. For individual patients, annual medication for hypertension can cost as little as about Sh3,000 in public facilities or hundreds of dollars in private care.

More intensive treatments, such as stroke admissions, dialysis for chronic kidney disease, and cancer treatment, can push families into financial ruin.

"If we do not act now, the cost of treating diet-related NCDs will far exceed what we are already struggling with in terms of infectious diseases," warns Patrick Amoth, Director General for Health.

The report warns that if current trends continue, Kenya may face a situation similar to that in countries such as Mexico and Peru, where childhood obesity is expected to reduce GDP by between one and three percent over the lifetime of today's children.

Unicef estimates that Mexico could lose approximately $1.8 trillion, while Peru could lose around $210.6 billion. Although similar calculations have not yet been conducted for Kenya, where nearly half of toddlers consume sugary foods, the outlook could be similar or even worse.

In response to this issue, the Ministry of Health has launched the National Strategic Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) for the period 2021/22–2025/26.

The plan aims to prevent exposure to risk factors, strengthen health system responses, promote healthy diets, limit harmful marketing, and improve surveillance, monitoring, and research.

The strategic plan highlights that an unhealthy diet is one of the main risk factors for NCDs, alongside tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity.

Alarmingly, NCDs are increasingly affecting younger individuals, with over half of those affected being under 40 years of age.

Current policy measures under consideration include introducing a sugar tax similar to those in Mexico and South Africa, implementing front-of-pack labelling to help consumers make healthier choices, and enforcing stricter junk food marketing regulations, particularly in schools and on online platforms.

Furthermore, school meal programmes are being expanded to reduce children's reliance on unhealthy snacks.

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