Wed, Oct 16, 2019 page5

• Diet of instant noodles harming Asian children

  POVERTY KEY: Nutrient-rich fruits, vegetables, eggs, dairy, fish and meat are disappearing from diets as the rural population moves to the cities in search of jobs

  • AFP, MANILA
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  A diet heavy in cheap, modern food such as instant noodles that fills bellies, but lacks key nutrients has left millions of children unhealthily thin or overweight in Southeast Asia, experts say.

  The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia have booming economies and rising standards of living, yet many working parents do not have the time, money or awareness to steer clear of food hurting their children.

  In those three nations, an average of 40 percent of children aged five and below are malnourished, higher than the global average of one in three, according to a UNICEF report yesterday.

  “Parents believe that filling their children’s stomach is the most important thing. They don’t really think about an adequate intake of protein, calcium or fiber,” Indonesian public health expert Hasbullah Thabrany said.

  UNICEF said the harm done to children is both a symptom of past deprivation and a predictor of future poverty, while iron deficiency impairs a child’s ability to learn and raises a woman’s risk of death during or shortly after childbirth.

  To give some sense of scale to the problem, Indonesia had 24.4 million children under five last year, while the Philippines had 11 million and Malaysia 2.6 million, UNICEF data showed.

  UNICEF Asia nutrition specialist Mueni Mutunga traced the trend back to families ditching traditional diets for affordable, accessible and easy-to-prepare “modern” meals.

  “Noodles are easy. Noodles are cheap. Noodles are quick and an easy substitute for what should have been a balanced diet,” she said.

  The noodles, which cost as little as US$0.23 a packet in Manila, are low on essential nutrients and micronutrients such as iron, and are also protein-deficient while having high fat and salt content, Mutunga added.

  Indonesia was the second-biggest consumer of instant noodles, behind China, with 12.5 billion servings last year, according to the World Instant Noodles Association.

  The figure is more than the total consumed by India and Japan put together.

  Nutrient-rich fruits, vegetables, eggs, dairy, fish and meat are disappearing from diets as the rural population moves to the cities in search of jobs, the report said.

  Though the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia are all considered middle-income nations by World Bank measures, tens of millions struggle to make enough money to live.

  “Poverty is the key issue,” Malaysian public health expert T. Jayabalan said, adding that households where both parents work need meals that can be made quickly.

  Low-income households in Malaysia depend largely on ready-made noodles, sweet potatoes and soya-based products as their major meals, he said.

  Sugar-rich biscuits, beverages and fast food also pose problems in these nations, experts said.

  Rolling back the influence instant noddles have on the daily lives, and health, of people in Southeast Asia would likely require government intervention, they said.

  “Promotion and advertising is extremely aggressive,” Thabrany said. “There is massive distribution. They [instant noodles] are available everywhere, even in the most remote places.”
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