The rise in obesity among children is an issue that demands the government’s attention, Taiwan Obesity Prevention Association director-general Liao Kuo-dong (廖國棟) said at the group’s inaugural meeting yesterday.
Liao, who is also a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, said the group will seek to have legislation on national nutrition and its implementation passed, as obesity among children is now a national problem, is “no less urgent than those of the aging population and low birth rate.”
National Health Insurance’s (NHI) data showed that in the four years from 2005 to 2008, 21,689 people sought medical attention for obesity-related diseases, costing the NHI more than NT$240 billion (US$7.89 billion), said Liu Pou-en (劉伯恩), a doctor who specializes in treating obesity.
“By 2020, it is estimated, about one-third of the NHI budget will be used for treating obesity-related diseases,” which include cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, osteoarthritis, diabetes, hypertension and certain types of cancers, he added.
Health Promotion Administration Deputy Director-General Yu Li-hui (游麗惠) said that the agency has joined the WHO in its aim to reduce premature mortality from non-communicable diseases by 25 percent by 2025.
Obesity prevention plays a crucial role in reaching this goal, Yu said.
“In order to achieve the goal, targets such as reductions in sodium intake, raised blood pressure and physical inactivity have been set,” she added.
Familiarizing people through education about healthy diets, calories and how to lose weight in healthy ways can help people control their weight, Liu said.
Citing a survey he has conducted within his diet clinic, Liu said that many people have little knowledge of the amount of calories in some commonly consumed food products.
“An improper diet can have a damaging effect on health, as well as an effect on weight. Possible side effects include hair loss, menstrual disorders and heart palpitations,” he said.
“People should take note of the calories they consume and increase daily physical activity by walking up stairs instead of taking the elevator or standing up to move around after a period of sitting,” Liu said.
The association has set up a Line account (0988-906-633) which people can use to send photographs of the meals they are having to calculate the calories.
Those in need can call or send pictures during meal times to be informed about the amount of calories consumed and how to avoid excessive intake, the association.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching