Beat the Fastfood Mania

CEBU, Philippines - Where time has become a precious commodity to get things done, so have our eating habits. The National Nutrition Council is making an urgent call that to prevent a looming health crisis in obesity, we must all beat the fastfood mania.

Substituting a well-balanced meal with fastfood meal is taking a high toll among Filipinos. Mostly the fastfood mania is making people eat the kind of food that would make them obese and take in high cholesterol. This is not to be taken like a piece of cake. Eating in fastfood or restaurants increases the intake of saturated fats and trans fat adversely affecting blood cholesterol levels. In particular, saturated fats raise cholesterol levels and cause plaque to build up in arteries. Transfats raise LDL or bad cholesterol and lower HDL or good cholesterol.

An unhealthy diet is described by the World Heath Organization as a diet composed of foods which are energy-dense and nutrient-poor foods or food that are high in saturated fat, trans-fat, refined carbohydrates and salt. An unhealthy diet is also low in consumption of fruits and vegetables or low in fiber.

Because there are no regulations controlling amounts of saturated fats and trans fat used in restaurant and fastfood, the National Nutrition Council deplored that many Filipinos are driven to eat food that would make them obese and in the long term make them prone to heart and vascular diseases.

The National Nutrition Council raised the alarm that the country could be headed for a health crisis in obesity if nothing definitive is done about the fat intake in the Filipino diet. Based on the council’s studies, it was found that there have been changes in dietary patterns among Filipinos where there was increased consumption of animal-based food and decline in fruit and vegetable consumption. Factor in proclivities for fastfood and there you have Filipinos feeding on fat-saturated diet.

To see is to believe — a 2004 nutrition study revealed that 85 percent of Filipinos die of heart diseases and 62 percent of vascular system diseases. Non-communicable diseases such as heart and vascular system diseases have become the leading causes of morbidity in the country. Also known as lifestyle or behavior diseases, the risk factors associated with these diseases are related to how one lives. And how one lives is associated with how one eats. Other lifestyle-related non-communicable diseases among Filipinos are cancers, diabetes mellitus and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases.

Frequent eating in fastfood was found to increase the prevalence of obesity in childhood and eventually in adulthood thus posing increased risks for cardiovascular, coronary heart disease and diabetes. In fact, persistent obesity in childhood increases mortality and morbidity more than if obesity is developed in adulthood. Obesity is defined as having a body mass index – calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by their height squared in meters – greater than 30.

Parolita Mission, nutrition program coordinator in region 7 said, that what causes obesity in children are excessive intakes of total and saturated fats, inadequate intake of potassium and reduced physical activity often accompanied with high levels of television viewing. “Television viewing is posing a dangerous substitute for exercise activity in children and adults,” she deplored. Making schoolchildren eat at the fastfood more often instead of nutritious-prepared food at home makes them just as prone to obesity.

The fight is in the mind.

The fight against obesity and non-communicable diseases can no longer be dealt entirely in clinics or medical intervention. There is a need to change what goes on in homes, communities and schools. The other thing is that, obesity and non-communicable diseases are highly preventable and can actually be avoided through healthy diet, regular physical activity and avoidance of tobacco use. Proper nutrition plays a major role in the prevention, control and management of lifestyle-related non-communicable diseases. That means beating the fastfood mania.

The National Nutrition Council etched ten commandments to beat the fastfood mania ranging from saying no to large size, mega-size and all forms of “up-size,” choosing grilled chicken sandwiches, avoid ordering sandwiches with double meat, not adding bacon to sandwich because it is high in fat and even staying away from fried fish sandwiches.

Members of the nutrition council said they still need to hold a dialogue with fastfood and restaurant owners to address the issue of doing away or limiting fat-saturated menu. Until then people ought to stick close to an age-old adage of “an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.” Said simply, we need to beat the fastfood mania to beat the disease mania.