Do you fall into #MalnutritionTraps?
The country has been facing the rise on the number of underweight and overweight Filipinos for more than 20 years. The World Health Organization (WHO) defined this phenomenon as the “Double Burden of Malnutrition” or the “prevalence of both undernutrition and overweight in the same community, nation, or region.”
The country has been facing the rise on the number of underweight and overweight Filipinos for more than 20 years. The World Health Organization (WHO) defined this phenomenon as the “Double Burden of Malnutrition” or the “prevalence of both undernutrition and overweight in the same community, nation, or region.”
To address this
problem, our government launched the Pinggang Pinoy® campaign in 2014. Pinggang
Pinoy® is an easy-to-understand food guide showing proper food group portioning
on a per-meal basis. This reflects the principles of MOderation, VAriety and
BAlance (MOVABA) to promote healthier eating habits.
Solving the
Philippines’ Double Burden of Malnutrition should be a collaborative effort
between the public and private sectors as it is not an easy feat. With this,
Ajinomoto Philippines Corporation partnered with government agencies to conduct
education programs to raise awareness and promote the practice of Pinggang
Pinoy® in malnutrition hotspots, where incidences of Double Burden Malnutrition
are high. This training was given to homemakers/mothers who have malnourished
(underweight, stunting, wasting, overweight and obese) school-aged children.
The pilot run
resulted to improvements of the knowledge & attitudes of households related
to the practice of Pinggang Pinoy® within target areas. However, behavior
changes towards healthier eating habits remains to be a challenge. The program
uncovered a number #MalnutritionTraps that some Pinoy households easily fall
into. The following #MalnutritionTraps provide a picture of how unhealthy
eating habits may lead to Double Burden of Malnutrition:
1. Overconsumption of carbohydrates: Voracious
rice eaters can easily fill half of their plates with rice. Others have
pandesal & noodles as regular meal deprived of other nutrients derived from
a well-balanced meal.
2. Under consumption of vegetables and/fruits:
It is common for some to be content with rice & meat to satisfy their
hunger and skip/take insufficient amount of vegetables/fruits. Fact is, the
variety of colors found in Glow foods are important sources of vitamins &
minerals to sustain our energy & keep us from getting sick.
3. Overconsumption of protein: Typical
Filipino “SILOG” meals include double serving of proteins (e.g. Tapa+Itlog,
Tocino+Itlog, Longanisa+Itlog, Bangus+Itlog). Eating different kinds of protein
is fine for as long as they are taken in moderation. We must also avoid protein
dishes served high in fat, cholesterol and sodium.
More stories about
#MalnutritionTraps can be referenced from these documentary videos:
To help Filipinos
break free from #MalnutritionTraps, Ajinomoto’s Culinary Nutrition Team
prepared Healthy & Delicious Pinggang Pinoy® Recipes, downloadable through
https://bit.ly/2HIsfkj. Busy and budget-restricted homemakers will also find
these Pinggang Pinoy® recipes useful because all are easy-to-do and affordable
(P250/day for family of 5).
For updates about
Mag-Pinggang Pinoy® Tayo!, visit www.ajinomoto.com.ph
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