Civil Servants Asked To Count Calories

1.4 million Malaysian Civil Servants are asked to monitor what they eat by the Ministry of Health. The Public Service Department (PSD) has issued a directive since February 2012 advising them on healthy eating and living.

Photos taken from TheBorneoPost

A report from The Star has confirmed that Malaysians has the highest number of obesity in the region and the food choices in Malaysia ain't helping. I have previously written articles on calories of food (typical) in Malaysia and cautioned that a serving of anything (main meal) will be at least 600kcal. Not many believes me but my numbers ain't too far off from what the Malaysian Health Ministry has shown to the general public on the main page of The Star on June 12, 2012.

Pointing to Coconut Milk and sugar as the main culprit, i would say that the blame game was wrongly done. To start with, Coconut milk is not the devil here - it is the OIL and other processed ingredients used in the cooking. The deep fried banana fritters, the chicken wing, the fast food, the anything that is fried, the drinks and the list goes on. What the ministry has failed to educate is PORTION SIZE. Looking at the above, it does give the impression that that three pieced of fried chicken will only be 214.3kcal. Truth is, that applies only for fried chicken breast. Drumstick carry twice the amount and chicken wing unfortunately more (due to the skin/fat).

The Health Ministry too mentioned that on the average, a sedentary person requires 2000kcal to 2500kcal/day. For me, that is grossly over and even at 2000kcal, i can still afford to run a 5km and still have access. What one needs to know is their BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate. Granted that some of Malaysians might have Thyroid diseases and thus might have over or under active thyroid, the guideline stays true for more "general population". Read about BMR here.
So, lets hope that this weekend, most of you will be making a wiser choice with your food intake and choose to take the two days to make the change. It will be rewarding and life changing. Don't just read the headline - Do something!