Most adults in Taiwan do not injest enough vitamin B1 and B2, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.
“Most people still eat too much meat, but not enough fruit and vegetables,” said Hsu Ching-hsin (許景鑫), spokesman for the Food Safety Bureau.
The department has conducted a regular poll of nutritional habits since 1980. The latest poll, covering the period from 2004 to last year, was conducted by the National Health Research Institute.
A total of 6,144 people aged 19 and above were interviewed and asked to complete a questionnaire. A total of 3,000 of them completed a detailed health check including blood tests. The statistics showed that most of those who did not ingest enough vitamin B1 and B2 were young men and women under the age of 30, including pregnant women.
The poll also found that about 45.4 percent of women who were more than seven months pregnant did not get enough B1 and approximately 49.8 percent did not have enough B2.
“Most of these people were students and young people with office jobs,” Hsu said. “We found that many did not eat enough fruit and vegetables as many of them ate most of their meals at restaurants or from lunchboxes. They did not have balanced nutrition at all.”
Hsu said that edema, paralysis and potential heart problems are typical symptoms for those who do not eat enough B1. Glossitis and cheilosis can be a problem for those who do not get enough B2.
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