Uganda is confronting a growing but largely hidden nutrition crisis, with rising rates of obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and other lifestyle-related diseases, experts warn.
Nutritionists are calling on employers, policymakers, and adults to take urgent steps to improve dietary habits, particularly in workplaces where most adults spend the bulk of their waking hours.
Jennifer Tumukunde, Chief Executive Officer of Nutrition Garage Uganda, said the crisis is fueled by unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles, especially among corporate workers.
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She noted that many adults consume far more energy than their bodies require due to long hours spent seated at offices, limited physical activity, and frequent consumption of snacks and meals throughout the day.
"You will find that a corporate worker may have tea at home, breakfast at work, lunch, evening tea, and then dinner at home, yet this is a person who drove to work and spent the whole day seated," Tumukunde explained.
She added that excess energy intake is stored as fat, increasing the risk of hypertension, pre-diabetes, infertility, and other medical conditions before individuals even realise the cause.
According to Tumukunde, the issue is not scarcity of food. Uganda's tropical climate provides abundant fruits, vegetables, and both plant and animal protein sources.
The problem, she said, lies in knowledge gaps regarding portion control, balanced diets, and healthy eating habits.
"It is not a cost issue because Uganda has the best fruits, vegetables, and proteins. What people need is knowledge about what to eat and how much to eat," she said.
The rising consumption of processed and fast foods compounds the problem.
Tumukunde said such foods are convenient but pose significant health risks when eaten regularly, particularly from Monday to Friday during workdays.
"The quality of food matters. A lot of the food around us is processed food, and people are eating it every day without knowing the impact it has on their health," she said.
She highlighted the link between poor diets and the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Uganda, noting that conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and certain cancers are on the rise.
"The nutrition crisis is silent because people do not feel pain immediately. They only go to hospital when the disease has already developed," Tumukunde said.
Experts say workplace interventions are critical because adults consume major meals while at work.
Tumukunde urged companies and organisations to employ professional nutritionists to advise on meal planning, portion sizes, and healthy eating, just as they hire administrators or human resource managers.
"If an organisation can employ different professionals, why not also have a nutritionist who advises on what employees are eating?" she asked.
Tumukunde also encouraged companies to examine the types of foods offered during meetings, events, and daily meal programmes, suggesting partnerships with nutrition organisations to improve food choices and raise awareness among employees.
Addressing nutrition early, she said, could prevent many diseases before they progress into serious health conditions, reducing the burden on both individuals and the healthcare system.
The nutrition crisis, she added, is affecting younger generations as well. Increasing numbers of school-aged children are experiencing obesity due to frequent consumption of processed snacks, often packed by parents for convenience.
Tumukunde said this underscores the importance of school feeding programmes that provide balanced meals to children.
Complementing Tumukunde's warnings, Client Relations Officer at the same Organisation,Moreen Doreen Atugonza emphasized that adults must lead by example.
She noted that children's dietary habits are shaped by what they see adults eating at home.
Families that regularly consume fruits and vegetables are more likely to raise children who do the same.
"So we are targeting adults, because it starts with us. It's us who give our children the food that we give them. It's us who plan their meals. It's us who tell the maids at home to cook this food or that food," Atugonza said.
She stressed that food is essential for energy, brain function, and maintaining overall health. Starvation, she said, is never recommended, except for spiritual or religious fasting by choice.
"The way we eat should evolve with the way we work," Atugonza said, highlighting that sedentary office lifestyles require deliberate changes in diet to prevent lifestyle-related illnesses.
Together, Tumukunde and Atugonza are leading Nutrition Garage Uganda, which provides wellness and nutrition guidance to individuals, families, schools, and corporate organisations.
They are organizing the country's first high-level nutrition summit focused on workplace nutrition, bringing together policymakers, corporate leaders, and health professionals to discuss practical strategies for improving diets and employee health. The summit is taking place this month.
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"This summit is going to bring people from the health sector, corporate sector, and policymakers together to explore how we can support the workplace environment for better nutrition," Atugonza said.
Experts note that improving adult nutrition can create a ripple effect on children's health and long-term public health outcomes. Modeling healthy dietary habits can reduce the risk of obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and other diet-related illnesses.
With Uganda's sedentary lifestyles, reliance on processed foods, and rising non-communicable disease rates, nutritionists say timely interventions in workplaces, schools, and households are vital to reversing the crisis.
"Our ultimate aim is to ensure that adults lead by example so that children, families, and communities develop healthier habits," Atugonza said.
Nutritionists warn that without awareness, education, and structural changes in workplace food environments, Uganda risks an escalation of lifestyle-related illnesses, emphasizing the urgent need for action at both the individual and institutional levels.
