Don't eat a lot or eat many times, advises Hilmi
Published on: Sunday, August 14, 2016
Kuala Lumpur: The "eat a lot and eat many times' habit needs to be avoided in maintaining good health and ideal bodyweight, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya advised.He said obesity was a huge problem in the country with one out three Malaysians aged 40 to 59 overweight."The public need to ensure that their Body Mass Index is below 25 with calories for men not to exceed 2,000 daily and for women, 1,800," he told reporters after launching the Biggest Loser programme, organised by the Association of Women and Wives of Bernama Employees (Benita), here.
ADVERTISEMENT
Also present were the Communications and Multimedia Ministry's Wives of Civil Servants and Women Civil Servants Association (Puspanita) Chairman Datin Abidah Sani, Bernama General Manager Datuk Zulkefli Salleh, Bernama Editor-in-Chief Datuk Zakaria Abdul Wahab, Benita Chairman Datin Rohana Mustaffa, Malaysian Health Promotion Board Chairman Tan Sri Mohd Nasir Mohd Ashraf and KPJ Sentosa KL Specialist Hospital Executive Director, Mohd Taufik Ismail.Thus, Dr Hilmi said he hoped that the initiative such as the one organised by Benita be an example to the other government departments and agencies as an effort to encourage healthy and active lifestyle to their staffs.In a related matter, he said based on the National Health and Morbidity Survey, the number of diabetics in the country had increased to 17.5 per cent in 2015 as compared to 15.2 per cent in 2011.On this, he said, the ministry had engaged with industry players and suggested to them to reduce the amount of sugar in their food and beverages, besides using a smaller containers to avoid "overdose" of food.
ADVERTISEMENT
Apart from that, Dr Hilmi said in encouraging healthy eating, mothers were encouraged to feed their newborns breast milk for at least six months, and thus far, about 44 per cent had followed the advice.Meanwhile, commenting on the programme, Rohana said it was the second organised since 2012 and aimed as an intervention and awareness programme on the risks of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), especially among career women.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Every participant will be monitored each month in term of their bodyweight, fat content, blood, and others, and the winner will be decided based on the most weight lost and their commitment to the programme," she said.The 40 participants will go through health screening, bodyweight check every month, fitness exercises twice a week, diet counselling and talks on NCDs, healthy lifestyle and workshops on personal appearance for a duration of six months.Benita also receives cooperation among others from KPJ Sentosa Hospital, MySihat, Bank Rakyat, Youth and Sports Ministry and Pharmaniaga. Hospital KPJ Sentosa will assist participants in health screening, and provide advice on healthy eating while Mysihat will provide trainers for fitness exercises.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
