DOH-7 pushes public to eat more vegetables

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Health is focusing on the reinvigoration of vegetable campaign in this year’s celebration of the Nutrition Month to push for the increase in the consumption and production of vegetables in the household and community.

Health officials pushed for it after finding out that one of the factors why Filipinos are eating less vegetable is due to its unavailability and cost.

DOH-7 executive director Dr. Lakshmi Legaspi said a vegetable hour was allotted yesterday during the opening of the Nutrition Month celebration. This year’s theme is “Pagkain ng gulay ugaliin, araw-araw itong ihain!”

A simultaneous vegetable planting in four areas including Mambaling, Mabolo Elementary Schools, Operation Second Chance and Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center were conducted. She said that Filipinos are eating lesser vegetables because of these major reasons such as influence of family members who do not eat vegetables, dislike for the taste and preference for meat, preference for fast foods and instant foods, fear of chemicals and pesticides, vegetables require time to prepare, and lack of knowledge on nutritional and health benefits of vegetables.

Legaspi said they are encouraging everybody to increase vegetable consumption as part of healthy diet and address micronutrient deficiencies and non-communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

Dr. Parolita Mission, regional nutrition program coordinator, said the ideal serving of vegetables in the previous years was three but based on the nutrition survey it now becomes two only.

Based on a 2008 food consumption survey of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), Filipinos on the average are eating less and less vegetables per day in the past three decades.

Mission said the survey shows that from 145 grams per day of vegetables in 1978, vegetable consumption decreased to 110 in 2008.

The consumption varies across the regions, showing Calabarzon and the ARMM, as having the lowest consumption at 92 grams per person per day, while CAR had the highest at 169 grams.

“Our main focus in celebrating the nutrition month is to reinvigorate the vegetable campaign to push for the increase of the consumption and production of vegetables not only in the household but as well as in the entire community,” she said.

The World Health Organization recommends eating a minimum of 400 grams of vegetables and fruits per person per day, or equivalent to five servings of vegetables and three of fruits.

In terms of age groups, the survey shows that infants six to 11 months consumed only an average of two grams per day, and among the one-year-old children the amount increased to only eight grams.

It was noted that adolescents aged 13-19 consumed 69 grams, adults 20-59 consumed 91, while older persons 60 years and over, consumption decreased to 87 grams only, pregnant women consumed only 91 grams while lactating women ate 101 grams per day.

Moreover, the celebration seeks to promote vegetable gardening as a source of additional food and income and increase demand for vegetables to help local vegetable farmers.

The DOH- 7 would also seek to promote vegetable gardening as a source of additional food and income and increase demand for vegetables.

“We also promote vegetable gardening in the household in order to increase the consumption and the income if they could produce more vegetables. They will be helping the vegetable farmers as well. Having no space is not a reason because of the technology now as one can already have the urban gardening technique,” Legaspi said.  (FREEMAN)