Thursday, October 05, 2006 Avoid obesity, eat vegetables
A HEALTH expert has warned that 10-million more Filipinos will be obese or overweight within the next five to 10 years, as based on a World Health Organization (WHO) report, but this should not be so because healthy food is readily at hand for Filipinos.
"This alarming trend of obesity among Filipinos can be prevented," said Vegetable Industry Council for Southern Mindanao chair Roger Gualberto.
"Eat more veggies," he said. "Not only is it healthy, it is also cheaper."
In a written statement Vegetable Industry Council-Southern Mindanao pointed out that although vegetable crops are the richest source of vitamins, Filipinos strongly prefer cholesterol-rich food resulting to an increase in the number of those suffering from various ailments.
The Philippine Coalition for Control of Non-Communicable Disease reports that 19.6 percent of adults are overweight while 4.8 percent are already obese. About 3.5 percent are diabetic, while 8 percent have high cholesterol level and these figures continue to rise.
The Food and Nutrition Research Institute recommends that Filipinos must have at least 69 kilos per annual capita consumption of vegetables, a long way to go with the present 40 kg per capita annual Filipino vegetable consumption and even longer from the Taiwan-based Asial Vegetable Research Center's recommendation to the Philippines of 80 kilos per capita annual consumption.
Vegetable Industry Council-Southern Mindanao and its partners aim to change the Filipinos perspective towards vegetables, consume larger quantities of this nutritional food and eventually help the vegetable farmers who sow towards our health. (GLP)
