Healthy eating: the choice is yours

IN MY first instalment for this column on developments in the nutrition scene in Malaysia, I thought it would be appropriate to look at how far we have come in promoting nutrition and healthy eating in our country.

It is timely, considering that the national level “Jom Makan Secara Sihat” (“Come, Eat Healthily”) campaign was launched by the Health Minister on August 25, 2006, at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur.

There was a small write-up on the launch the next day in this paper (20 minutes thrice a week, Aug 26, The Star). I was hoping for more publicity on the launch, so as to give it the widest prominence and exposure that is required for a public health programme.

I am glad, though, that the programme is to be launched at various times at the state level. A variety of approaches are to be adopted in getting the healthy eating message to the rakyat.

Healthy lifestyle campaigns have come a long way in this country. I recall that the first of such campaigns was launched in 1991 with the theme “Love Your Heart”. This was to give emphasis to the importance of reducing risk to coronary heart disease through various approaches, including healthy eating.

Subsequently, the healthy lifestyle campaign was launched, with a different theme every year, aimed at reducing risk of the people to chronic diseases including diabetes and cancers.

Healthy eating has always been one of the strategies in these campaigns, giving due recognition to the importance of food and nutrition in the causation and prevention of these diseases.

Over the years, professional bodies have also carried out various activities in support of these campaigns. The Nutrition Society of Malaysia, for example, has conducted a number of activities including launching a Nutrition Month in April every year since 2002. It has been 15 years since the commencement of this series of healthy lifestyle and healthy eating campaigns. I have often been asked: have these programmes been effective? Have they contributed to promoting the nutritional health of the people?

I would certainly say “yes”. These activities have increased the knowledge of the public on food and nutrition. Larger segments of the community are now aware, for example, that eating too much high-calorie foods (for example, fats and oils) can increase a person’s likelihood of becoming overweight and obese; that eating too much cholesterol-rich foods will raise blood cholesterol, and so on.

But have the people changed their food habits, their food consumption patterns so that they eat more healthily? I am not confident that they have. Whilst nutrition knowledge has increased, behavioural change has not taken place.

I am afraid many people have not translated their nutrition knowledge into healthier eating habits. When faced with rows and rows of food in buffet lines, they do not seem to remember what they have heard about healthier food choices and eating in moderation. When queuing up for lunch, they allow food taste to dictate what they choose to pile up on their plates.

What this means is that we have a lot more to do. What it means is that we have to continue with our fight to spread the healthy eating message before we can say that these programmes have been effective in reducing the risk of the people toward chronic diseases.

We have to do more than official launches of campaigns. We need to have effective programmes at the community level. We need more grassroots activities that reach the people. We need messages that the people can understand and follow. We want the people to really understand the link between food and nutrition, and disorders caused by nutrient deficiencies and excesses.

We do not want the people to be swayed by nutrition non-science, half-truths and myths. We do not want the community to believe in quick fixes and magic bullets because there are none.

To carry out these activities, we need qualified nutritionists at the community level. We need them in the villages; we need them in the towns. Nutritionists must be our “agents” to promote healthy eating, to prevent the people from under- and over-nutrition. Nutritionists must be there when the people want to find out about healthy eating. They must be there to provide unbiased, up-to-date nutrition information.

We must equip them with the required knowledge and skills. We must provide them with the necessary resources so that they can continue to empower people with the nutrition information to enable them to make healthier choices.

No amount of campaigns and programmes by governments and professional bodies are ever going to be enough. The people themselves must be convinced that healthy eating is the way to nutritional well-being, the road to good health. The people themselves must want to make the healthier choice. Behavioural change will then take place.

NUTRI SCENEBy Dr TEE E SIONG; The Star Sunday September 24, 2006