‘Pinggang Pinoy’promotes healthy eating

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Health (DOH) and the National Nutrition Council (NNC) will promote Pinggang Pinoy, a new food guide developed by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) to promote healthy eating habits.

Health Assistant Secretary and NNC executive director Maria Bernardita Flores said the Pinggang Pinoy, or Filipino Plate, will be used as a tool to encourage food establishments to offer healthier meals.

“Pinggang Pinoy promotes having a balanced and varied diet by showing the recommended proportions of rice, vegetables, protein-source, fish on a per-meal basis,” she told The STAR.

“Pinggang Pinoy is “a new and easy to understand food guide that uses a familiar food plate model to convey the right food group proportions on a per-meal basis, to meet the body’s energy and nutrient needs of Filipino adults,” according to the DOST website.

The FNRI said Pinggang Pinoy can be used to complement the FNRI Daily Nutritional Guide (DNG) Pyramid for Filipinos, but it will not replace it.

The FNRI said Pinggang Pinoy is a “quick and easy guide” on how much to eat per meal, while the DNG Pyramid shows at a glance the whole day food intake recommendation.

“Both the Pinggang Pinoy and the DNG Pyramid for Filipinos are based on the latest science about how our food, drink, and activity choices affect our health,” the DOST said.

Appropriate proportion

Developed by FNRI in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), DOH and the NNC, the plate guide provides consumers with recommendations of the appropriate proportion of various food groups for a healthy and balanced meal.

It uses a science-based approach with the best available scientific evidence, backed by formative research, technical consultations and pre-testing.

“It is a reminder on how to fill up their plate, with the right amount and quality of food,” Ma. Jovina Sandoval, FNRI science research specialist, said.

“It builds from the base, indicating that we should eat more vegetables and whole grains which take up the bottom part of the pyramid, and less red meat, sugar, fats and oils which take up the topmost portion,” Sandoval said of the food pyramid.

Nutritional status

Flores said the food plate is expected to help improve the nutritional status of Filipinos, particularly in preventing obesity and non-communicable diseases like cancer, cardiovascular illnesses and hypertension.

“The fruit and vegetable consumption of Filipinos is very low and presents risk to diseases and death,” she said.

According to the 2013 National Nutrition Survey, 1 out of 10 adults is chronically energy-deficient and 3 out of 10 are overweight and obese.

The WHO estimated in 2008 that 300,000 people die every year from non-communicable diseases. This figure translates to 800 deaths every day, comprising 60 percent of all deaths in the country.

Sandoval said that the new food plate aims “to support our advocacy to prevent the non-communicable diseases and the double burden of malnutrition.”

“Our target users are Filipino adults, 19 years old and above, without special medical attention. But for people with ill health, they need special attention or advice from dieticians or medical doctors or any health providers,” she said.

Portions

The Pinggang Pinoy is divided into portions, each of which has their equivalent sizes per meal.

Rice and alternatives include a serving of a cup of cooked rice, four pieces of pandesal, four slices of loaf bread, a cup of cooked macaroni or spaghetti noodles or a small piece of root crop.

Fish and alternatives include a piece of small-sized fish, a piece of small chicken leg or a matchbox size of meat, or a piece of small chicken egg.

The food guide also recommends at least three-fourths cup of cooked or raw vegetables, a medium-sized fruit or a slice of big fruit, and eight or more glasses of water daily. – With Rainier Allan Ronda