Safer Food, Better Health: Top Tips
How 'safe' is the food on your plate? World Food Safety Day 2022 (June 7) is celebrated to draw attention and mobilize action to prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks and improve human health.
(With inputs from United Nations guidelines and WHO norms)WHAT IS A 'HEALTHY DIET'? As
per WHO guidelines, a healthy diet helps protect against malnutrition in all
its forms and is a foundation for health and development. It also helps to
prevent non-communicable diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases,
some cancers and other conditions linked to obesity. Together with a lack of
physical activity, an unhealthy diet is one of the leading global risks to
health.
Evidence shows the benefits of a diet high in fruit,
vegetables, legumes, nuts and grains, but lower in salt, free sugars and fats,
particularly saturated and trans fats. Developing a healthy diet begins early
in life with breastfeeding and educational initiatives for young children and
parents. These benefits are reflected in higher educational outcomes,
productivity and lifelong health.
TOP TIPS TO MAKE YOUR LIFESTYLE HEALTHY:
1. Ensure less than 5 gms of salt per day: This can reduce Blood Pressure and the risk of several diseases.
2. Limit the intake of free sugars: Limiting
intake of free sugars to less than 10 % of total energy intake is recommended.
3. Increase Potassium-rich foods: Eat beans and
peas (approximately 1,300 mg of potassium per 100 g), nuts (approximately 600
mg/100 g), vegetables such as spinach, cabbage and parsley (approximately 550
mg/100 g) and fruits such as bananas, papayas and dates (approximately 300
mg/100 g).
4. Avoid Junk Food: Processing reduces the
amount of potassium in many food products.
5. Read the labels on your packaged food packets: A person with either elevated sodium levels and low potassium levels could be at risk of raised blood pressure which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.
The multiple burdens of malnutrition, like stunting,
wasting, micronutrient deficiencies, obesity and diet-related non-communicable
diseases, are increasingly co-existing within the same community, household,
and even within the same individual. With current trends project that one in two people will be
malnourished by 2025, and an estimated 40 million children will suffer from obesity
or overweight in the next decade.
In marginalized communities, child malnutrition and
food insecurity are on the rise. In the past years, millions of children had
stunted growth due to poor diets, lack of access to clean water and health
services, and other accessibility issues. Among 45 per cent of children under 5
years of age that are unable to survive, undernutrition has been the underlying
cause of death.
For the year 2022, WHO has announced the theme of
World Food Safety Day as: 'Safer food, better health' seeking global
participation.
Safe food is one of the most critical guarantors for
good health. Unsafe foods are the cause of many diseases and contribute to
other poor health conditions, such as impaired growth and development, micronutrient
deficiencies, non-communicable or communicable diseases and mental illness.
Globally, one in ten people are affected by foodborne diseases annually.
TO SUGARY CELEBRATIONS: SAY NO! The
COVID-19 pandemic has evidently fuelled nutrition crisis to an extent. The next
time you go shopping for your grocery and kitchen supplies, pause and notice
the fresh goodies and read the labels on food packets. Buy fresh food to the
extent possible and do not celebrate milestones or family functions with junk
food.
Break the habit of connecting celebratory moments with
sugary and salty junk food – Children are the biggest sufferers of this
habitual action in most households.
This World Food Safety Day - Start a healthy lifestyle
trend in your own home and build your community to stay motivated.
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