CAROLINE MUTOKO SPEAKS ABOUT MALNUTRITION CRISIS AMONG RICH KIDS

Media personality Caroline Mutoko has talked about the growing and hidden crisis of malnutrition of affluent children. 

“I want to go on the record saying malnutrition is something that happens to urban children, and especially children of the rich because they say they are rich and must buy their children imported things, that is all poison,” she said.

Mutoko said the issue is driven by the unchecked consumption of imported snacks and energy drinks that are often banned in western nations but readily available on Kenyan shelves.

Her comments were sparked by an experience shared by fellow media personality Pinky Ghelani, who refused to buy a specific snack for her son after reading its ingredients label. While not naming the brand, Mutoko endorsed Ghelani’s decision using it as a challenge to parents.

“We are the dumping ground for what the European Union, Japan, Canada, and Australia reject,” Mutoko stated. “We are feeding our children poison, disguised in colourful, imported packaging. The malnutrition I am talking about isn’t about a lack of food; it’s about the toxic quality of the food we are giving them.”

Mutoko’s argument is that many of these imported products contain harmful additives and ingredients deemed unsafe for consumption in other parts of the world. She questions Kenya’s regulatory body, asking, “I don’t know what KEBS is doing about it. Maybe there’s somebody is taking care of somebody, but the truth is, a lot of these additives… is rubbish.“

She urged parents to become vigilant about reading ingredient lists. She advised that locally produced foods are often a safer and healthier alternative to many imported junk foods. “You are not your grandmother; you are not your mother. Your job is to read the labels. We must stop equating ‘imported’ with ‘quality.’ Our children’s health is at stake, and I am standing my ground on this 110%, toes down.”