The Malaysian Healthy
Plate or Suku-Suku Separuh is not the norm for most of us, which has led
to an obesity epidemic among adults, and children. According to the Economist Intelligence
Unit’s Tackling Obesity in ASEAN Report[1],
Malaysia’s prevalence of obesity is at 13.3%, which is the highest in South
East Asia. Malaysia was among the top
three countries in Asia[2]
with high percentage 11.5% of obese children, aged between six months and 12
years.
Ayam Brand™, a homegrown household name famed
for its wide range of quality, no preservatives and no added MSG, healthy and
convenient canned food, is taking on the big issue of obesity among Malaysian
children by incorporating the 3S concept of the Malaysian Healthy Plate into
its annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme. This year, the
brand is expanding the CSR program to children from primary schools as well.
Was your last meal a
Malaysian Healthy plate –according to quarter, quarter, half? Ministry of Health Malaysia promotes Suku-Suku
Separuh, the division of plate portion to a quarter for protein, a quarter
for complex carbohydrates and half for fruits and vegetables. It is an easy way to portion out the types of
food our body needs.
The theme for this year’s campaign is ‘Ayam
Brand™ Community Care Campaign 2019, Get Healthy Malaysia, Start Now’. It will empower children from 10 states with
information to identify healthier food choices and equip them with skills to
prepare their own Malaysian Healthy Plate meal. The program is open to children
from eight years up.
According to Ayam Brand™ Chairman, Yang
Mulia Tunku Dato’ Mu’tamir Bin Tunku Tan Sri Mohamed, the
CSR campaign which is now in its twelfth year has contributed 1.76 million healthy meals for charity,
providing nutritious food to more than 20,000 people from 482 charity homes and
NGOs.
This year campaign
aided and educated 42 charity homes, educated 25 schools nationwide, over three
months, estimated 1,800 recipients with 324,000 Ayam Brand meals.
“As a leader in
the Malaysian food industry for more than 100 years, Ayam Brand™ is extremely
concerned on the obesity epidemic in the country and set out to assist,
starting with children as they are the once who are most teachable and reachable.
We developed the Get Healthy Malaysia, Start Now program with the hope
that we could help reduce child obesity by equipping children with the
knowledge and skills to choose, make and prepare more nutritious foods,” Tunku
Dato’ Mu’tamir said.
“We have been
carrying out our annual CSR campaign for 12 years, and it was time for us to
expand it to benefit more children by bringing them the Quarter, Quarter, Half (Suku-Suku
Separuh) message through activations that would make it easy to understand, with
tips that they could use at home, and share with their friends and family,”
Tunku Dato’ Mu’tamir added.
Ayam Brand held its
finale campaign at KPJ Ampang Puteri Specialist, one of the premier hospital in
Malaysia as well as South East Asia.
At the finale event,
KPJ Ampang Puteri Specialist Dietician, Mrs. Nur Hayati Azmi shared with the
participants on living and eating healthily.
“KPJ Ampang Puteri Specialist is glad to
work with Ayam Brand in its annual CSR campaign. Adhering to the adage that prevention is
better than cure, we are commited to reaching out to the community and sharing
vital health knowledge. We appreciate
the partnership as we see the campaign by Ayam Brand is reaching out to the
nation and the brand has done it successfully for many years.” Dato Dr
Abdul Wahab Abdul Ghani, Medical Director, KPJ Ampang Puteri Specialist
Hospital.
For a balanced meal, one quarter of the plate
should be protein that can be found in fish, beans, meat, poultry, eggs, in
palm-sized portion; one quarter of carbohydrate from rice, noodle, bread,
cereals, wholegrain products, in fist-sized portion, and half the plate with
vegetables and fruits, in palm-sized.
In Kuala Lumpur and
Selangor, 40 children from 257 participated
in the informative, challenging and fun ‘Ayam Brand™ Community Care Campaign
2019, Get Healthy Malaysia, Start Now’ (Sihatkan Malaysia, Mulakan
Sekarang).
The event kicked off with an interactive
introduction to the #sukusukuseparuh concept, followed by ten teams each
comprising of four children preparing a meal based on the 3S principles, within
30 minutes with minimal assistance from adults, using recipes that have been
vetted by nutritionist.
While waiting for their Malaysian Healthy
Plate meals to be evaluated the children were challenged with games that
required Higher Order Thinking Skills to reinforce what they had learned on
good nutrition.
“Today I learnt
that I need to eat more vegetables, fruits and proteins, and reduce the rice
and bread that I like so much. The food I made today was very tasty, and it was
healthy too. I will try to eat balanced meals every day to be healthier, and
will do more exercise,” said one of the participants.
Ayam Brand™ took
taking the campaign online and amplifying it via social media through
activations such as the Show Us Your Healthy Plate contest, as well as sharing
the live updates of the event.
The six charity homes
received two months’ supply of Ayam Brand™ products equivalent to 46,260
healthy meals for the total of 257 residents at these homes.
The winning team for
the Ayam Brand Suku-Suku Separuh Healthy Festival 2019 for Kuala Lumpur and
Selangor was Yatasan Chow Kit. The team received a trophy and certificates from
Ayam Brand for their Malaysian Healthy Plate of tuna stuffed hard-boiled egg, fried
rice and apple salad.
“Ayam Brand™ has
been supporting NGOs for many years, and homes always look forward to being
selected as their product contribution has seen many a home through tough times
when donations were scarce. Our thanks to Ayam Brand™ for consistently caring
for the community,” said Mr. David from Persatuan
Rumah Kids.
Want to help more
communities? Visit the Ayam Brand™
e-charity at https://www.ayambrand.com.my/e-charity.html and purchase Ayam
Brand products to be contributed to a charity of your choice. The Ayam Brand™ e-charity offers 15% off
retail prices, and free delivery to make it easier for more charity
organisations to Get Healthy Malaysia, Start Now.
Interested to get more information on Ayam Brand Malaysia,
Website : www.ayambrand.com.my
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/ayambrandmalaysia
Instagram : www.instagram.com/ayambrandmy
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[1] ‘Fattest in SEA’ Malaysians urged not to
overindulge to fight obesity - https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/metro-news/2018/09/27/from-fatness-to-fitness-msians-urged-to-cut-down-on-food-indulgence-to-fight-obesity
[2] Prof Dr Poh Be Koon 2013 study in Asia - https://www.nst.com.my/lifestyle/heal/2019/07/502533/childhood-obesity-growing-health-crisis-malaysia
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