Health officials on Aug. 21 touted the success of the “Metabolic Syndrome Prevention Program” for improving the health of large segments of the population, and would expand the scheme to more doctors and hospitals from next month.
Now in its third year, the program launched by the Ministry of Health and Welfare has helped about 420,000 people reduce the risks of metabolic syndrome by offering monitoring and medical advice at clinics, the ministry told a news conference in Taipei.
Prevention of metabolic syndrome can be done by effective control of the “three highs” (high blood pressure, high blood sugar and high blood lipids), as well as lifestyle changes, Health Promotion Administration (HPA) Director-General Shen Ching-fen (沈靜芬) said.
Photo: CNA
Since its start in July 2022, about 3,100 clinics and 5,200 doctors have participated in the program, Shen said.
The clinics provide participants with blood tests, body-weight monitoring, waist measurements and other indices, while doctors advise on treatment and help on lifestyle changes, as well as offering follow-up phone calls and individual medical reports, she said.
Most program services were done at clinics, while about 20 percent were at general hospitals, with about 120,000 people participating each year, she added.
“The HPA has good cooperation with local clinics to run this program, and it has now reached a ‘mature’ level. Therefore, we plan to expand the program starting this month to include general hospitals to allow more people to participate,” Shen said. “We estimate that about 20,000 people could benefit from this expansion.”
The HPA has also evaluated participating clinics on the effectiveness of their health education, the rate of reduction of instances of metabolic syndrome, the rate of remission and other medical indices to rank the best five clinics in the nation, and in each administrative region, she said, adding that clinics that achieve a remission rate of more than 40 percent would be considered “good quality.”
Chen Ping-cheng (陳炳諴), director of Cheng-Mei Clinic in Tainan, said that the “good quality” recognition is a reward for assisting people to improve their health by guiding them to exercise, and improve their lifestyle and dietary habits.
“Our clinical staff also must be fit and in good health to enable their understanding of the issues and impediments that patients encounter, and better help them identify problems and find ways to overcome them,” Chen added.
A man surnamed Chao (趙) who had metabolic syndrome told reporters that he used to be quite fat and worked in an office.
“After testing at a clinic, it revealed I had fatty liver, also liver fibrosis. I did not want to turn from a colorful life to only black and white. So I decided to get serious to lose weight,” Chao said.
“The main principle is really to eat less and move more. The tough part is self-discipline to persist through it, while through the process I received a lot of help from medical staff at the clinic,” Chao added.
“The clinic staff advised me to do 30 squats and drink 50ml water before eating, in order to have a bit of satiety, so that I would not eat too much. They also told me to eat proteins first, then fibers and rice,” he said.
Chao added that he had been riding a bicycle to work instead of taking the MRT, and later got into weight training, resulting in losing 18kg in six months, which resulted in a clear improvement in low-density lipoprotein and cholesterol levels, and liver function indices.
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