President John Dramani Mahama has advised Ghanaians to avoid eating heavy foods after 7pm.

He said people should instead choose lighter meals and avoid sleeping immediately after eating.

Speaking at the launch of the free primary healthcare programme, he emphasised that such habits along with not taking part in physical activity can contribute to the development of non-communicable diseases.

“If you are the kind of person who likes eating heavy foods and you are not physically active, you want a big bowl of 'fufu' to eat at night before you go and sleep, why?

"Please by 7: O'clock eat your dinner and don't eat again, if you are hungry just take some cup of tea, don't eat any heavy food in the evening,” he stated.

He added that many people today do not engage in physical activity, yet they eat every day.

He stressed that some may not even walk to do their daily tasks, because after eating they take their cars to work, sit throughout the day, return home by car, and then eat heavy food at night often sleeping immediately after eating, with little or no physical activity.

He further said that although people in earlier times also ate heavy foods, they were able to avoid these diseases because they walked long distances to farms and remained physically active throughout the day.

He reiterated that the free primary healthcare programme will educate people on dietary changes that can help reduce their susceptibility to non-communicable diseases.

“Our fathers and quoe used to eat banku and fufu late in the night but they were physically active they used to go to the farm and they expended energy, now we don't do any physical activities, you wake up in the morning no exercise.

“So one of the aspect of the Free Primary Healthcare will be to educate people on what makes you successtible to non-communicable diseases, how to change your lifestyle, all these deitry change they will educate you on that,” he uttered.