Healthy eating key to avoid non-communicable diseases

The remarks came after the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) indicated that almost 282 million people in 59 countries faced hunger and lack of access to healthy foods due to climate change and economic crises.

The organisation said that over 36 million children aged under five years faced malnutrition, and two-thirds of them lived in Asia.

ThaiHealth pointed out that there were still underprivileged people in Thailand who were unable to access healthy foods and lacked knowledge on how to consume foods properly, resulting in the risk of developing NCDs.

Underprivileged people in cities suffered from food scarcity more than those in rural areas, said the foundation’s deputy CEO, Pairoj Saonuam.

He pointed out that NCDs, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, chronic lung disease, and mental health, killed 400,000 Thai people annually, inflicting 1.6 trillion baht in economic and social damage. 

To cope with the risk of NCDs, Pairoj stressed that people should balance their diet, increase consumption of vegetables and fruits, clean vegetables to reduce chemicals, and consume only 4 grams of sweet food a day. 

ThaiHealth would campaign on reducing the consumption of salty diets further, he added.

World Health Organisation (WHO) representative in Thailand, Suchira Banluesin, said inequality in accessing foods has raised the risk of malnutrition and NCDs.

“Low-income people prefer foods with high sugar, fat and sodium because they can be accessed easily,” she explained. “On the other hand, healthy foods are difficult to access due to high prices, forcing people to consume processed foods.” 

She urged relevant agencies to collaborate on enabling people to access healthy foods, such as encouraging agriculture and commerce sectors to produce high nutrition foods, using tax measures, offering subsidies and raising awareness.