Dear ST Forum:
I refer to Richard Seah's letter on the forum, "HPB shouldn't be playing catch-up on healthy diets" dated October 10, 2009. The writer raises interesting points about healthy diets and points out some things I didn't know about, such as "the goodness of medium chain fatty acids found in coconut milk and coconut oil, which the board discourages people from taking."
However, what I find odd about the letter is that such detailed, prescribed health diets should fall on the shoulders of the HPB, simply because what is deemed as harmful, such as "pasteurised, homogenised and otherwise processed cow's milk", "chlorine and flourides" in Singapore's drinking water and "white sugar", stems from nothing but a very niche belief of an interest group supporting health diets, which, the mainstream, even after 30 to 50 years of health diets advocacy in Western societies, do not adopt wholeheartedly.
Simply, the likes of vegetarian meals, brown rice, organically produced food are not everyone's cup of tea. The HPB can make recommendations on healthy living such as the Singapore Workout (successful in the 90s), community walk-a-jogs and ideas of generally balanced meals to the public, but it is not their role nor there is a need for any health-related statutory board to revamp what is otherwise a commercial F&B landscape or dictate what kind of food should be sold in foodcourts.
Seah's writing is irrelevant and overlooks the wider business and social concerns surrounding diets and the F&B industry. Individuals of the public should enjoy the personal freedom of being able to choose from variety and not from a reduced variety infused by health foods purported by a niche group of such supporters.
It is not the job of the HPB, nor is there a need for such prescription.
Best,
Kuanzhong
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The above letter was submitted but has not been published.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
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10 comments:
Health Promotion Board's role is to educate and promote to the public, in general, health related issues. If consumption of food does affect one's health, I do not see why this cannot come under the charge of HPB.
To help answer that question, perhaps we need to review the role of HPB:
Established in 2001, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) has a vision to build a nation of healthy and happy people.
Although residents in Singapore today enjoy good health with high life expectancy and low mortality rates, we want to further improve our health status and continue to enjoy good health as we age.
To achieve this, HPB assumes the role of the main driver for national health promotion and disease prevention programmes. Our goal is to increase the quality and years of healthy life and prevent illness, disability and premature death.
http://www.hpb.gov.sg/about/default.aspx
HPB implements programmes that reach out to the population, specifically children, adults and the elderly. These programmes include health and dental services for school children, BreastScreen Singapore, AIDS Education Programme, CervicalScreen Singapore, Childhood Injury Prevention Programme, Mental Health Education Programme, National Myopia Prevention Programme, Physical Activity, National Smoking Control Programme, Nutrition Programme, Osteoporosis Education Programme, Workplace Health Promotion Programme, HPB Online, HealthLine, Health Information Centre and HealthZone. New programmes will also be initiated over time to address health concerns among the community.
A healthy nation comprises people who can embrace life fully. HPB is committed to helping residents in Singapore attain optimal health through our health promotion and disease prevention programmes.
http://www.hpb.gov.sg/about/default.aspx
"HPB implements programmes that reach out to the population, specifically children, adults and the elderly. These programmes include,....Nutrition Programme...to address health concerns among the community"
The above has been extracted from the role of HPB as defined. So, in essence, there is really nothing wrong with HPB having this issue under their belt.
We all love fast foods, yet, although numerous health authorities worldwide adviced against frequent consumption of fast foods, sales of Fast Food outlets can only go higher with chains sprouting everywhere.
SO why the concern now the HPB is promoting organic foods and the likes? I dont think it will have any significant effect on the public in general, except perhaps the few ultra health conscious ones.
So my take is that, nope, even despite the rallying of healthy foods by Seah and friends, the wider business context will not change much.
I just find it weird that organic food are in the picture once again. Just what exactly is organic food? What is the difference?
I've attached some information on that, which some may find useful:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_food
For all those healthy food lovers who fell in love with Organic food and don't where to get them, here's where you can lay your fingers on them:
http://www.organicfacts.net/organic-stores/organic-stores/organic-food-stores-in-singapore.html
Hey Thanks Raphael, to add on the list, here's a few recommended ones by similar organic food lovers:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080625031230AAm5ioa
Organic foods has been hailed by many as being good or better, here's some reasons why you may need to rethink again:
Although organic food in Singapore has been widely publicized as the better health source of food to consume, there are still some things you should be taking note of. This blog entry with Organic Food Singapore highlights some of the finer points which you should take note of when you are buying or shopping for Singapore Organic Food.
First, what is organic food singapore in general consumes a lot of organic food every year. Through snacks and vegetables and fruits, people are being exposed to more and more ranges of organic food in Singapore. Organic food is basically food that organic farmers and food producers grow without using any kind of synthetic chemicals or very very low amounts of pesticides, and usually they are natural. They do not use genetically modified components. Organic Food in Singapore are produced by many organic food singapore producers and they are inspected for their high quality manufacturing procedures. However, if you are buying organic products not from Singapore, then make sure the product you buy comes from certified growers and producers.
Second, to many people, organic food singapore produces are usually vegetables and fruits. For organic food in Singapore, there is also organic farming. In Singapore Organic Food farming, animals are raised using organic methods which means that they are treated humanely. For example, in Singapore Organic Food farming, chickens are free range which means that they are not kept in small cages or battery and larger animals like cows are not kept in the small feed spaces. These animals are also not fed with any growth enhancing chemicals like steroids or hormones as such. In fact,these animals are treated with various vaccines instead to prevent diseases in them.
Organic Food Singapore farming as well as organic food farming in general are basically concerned about protecting the environment that we live in and existing with our ecosystems in harmony. This is a sharp comparison to traditional methods where the farmers rotate the crops to prevent depleting the soil of nutrients.
http://www.singaporeorganicfood.com/
In my opinion, I think organic food is way overrated. It's not cheap (in fact very expensive) and not readily available everywhere except supermarkets and the likes. There may be additional health benefits, but I don't think they justify the premium price tag.
To me, the food pyramid, adequate exercise and no smoking are enough to keep one strong and healthy. As long as one burn off more calories than the intake, keeping the weight down is definitely no problem.
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