Welcome
to the June 2004 edition of AFICNews.
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DATES
FOR YOUR DIARY
NEW
FROM AFIC
An updated ‘Short
Briefing on BSE’ is now available on AFIC website, in
English,
Chinese and
Thai languages.
Food Facts Asia
Issue 21, July 2004, will be mailed out to the subscribers in early
July. The text versions (English, Chinese and Thai) and full PDF version
will be posted on AFIC website at the end of this month. The topics
included in this issue are:
·
How Safe is Our Food?
·
Eating Out the Healthier
Way
·
Healthy Weight Advice –
One Size Doesn’t Fit All
For more
information or journalist enquiries, email
info@afic.org.
Most
Frequently Reported Food Safety and Nutrition Topics in Malaysian
Magazines
Note: These figures
are based on simple counting method of topic headings and do not allow
for differences in length or depth of feature articles.
COMMENTS
ON MOST POPULAR TOPICS
Hydration
The survey found magazine articles on
both the risks of excess and insufficient consumption of fluids and/or
water. One article, spotlighted the unreliability of thirst as an
indicator of hydration status, especially when large amounts of fluid
are lost via perspiration (such as in high ambient temperatures, and/or
vigorous exercise).
For more information on daily fluid
needs, click on
Fluid
up for Fitness and
Fluid – The Forgotten Factor
Infant
Feeding
All articles focused on breast feeding
- the short and long term benefits, and tips for successful breast
feeding. Breast feeding is recommended as first choice option in
national dietary guidelines
of many countries in Asia, including China,
Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines. National dietary
guidelines for some Asian countries are available to view on the AFIC
website, by clicking on -
http://www.afic.org/search.asp?ID=1
Fats/Heart
Disease/Cholesterol
A small number of articles were focused
on heart disease and the role of dietary fats in its onset
or prevention with the focus on their
impact on blood cholesterol levels.
For more information on dietary fats
and their role in a health diet, click on, ‘Essential Fats of Life’
http://www.afic.org/Essential%20Fats%20of%20Life.htm
Also, advice on maximizing heart
health, can be found in AFIC article ‘Beating Cardiovascular disease and
Enjoying Life’,
Beating Cardiovascular Disease and Enjoying Life
Supplements
Use of both traditional Asian dietary
supplements and botanicals, as well as modern formulations in the
treatment of disease, and associated symptoms were covered briefly in a
small number of magazines in the survey. For a brief review of some
common botanical supplements, click on ‘Herbs – the jury’s still out’,
http://www.afic.org/Herbs%20-%20the%20jury's%20still%20out.htm
Overweight/Obesity/Weight
Control
A wide range of themes covered in the
magazines surveyed. Encouragingly, the majority of stories approached
weight management from long term perspective, with stories on management
of appetite, the importance of establishing regular exercise/daily
physical activity routines, such as walking, and adopting long term
eating habits which support weight management. Also articles on
monitoring energy intake, and calorie values of foods were noted.
For more information on appetite, click
on –
http://www.afic.org/FFA%20Issue%2019%20Appetite%20Enigmas.htm
For more information on the role of
physical activity in weight management, click on-
http://www.afic.org/Overweight%20The%20Exercise%20Prescription.htm
Children’s
Health and Diet
A very popular topic in the magazine
sampled in this survey. Topics covered included parents as role models,
fast foods and their place in healthy diet and lifestyle of children,
preventing obesity, diabetes and heart disease, the benefits of
breakfast, the Malaysian children’s healthy eating pyramid, and
asthma-diet links.
For more information on this topic
please see recent AFIC article on ‘Raising Healthy Kids – some Tips for
Parents’ by clicking on
Raising Healthy Kids – some Tips for Parents
Healthy
Eating and Lifestyles
A popular topic, with a wide range of
themes covered in the magazines surveyed. Features included - practical
tips and recipes to improve nutritional quality of the diet; the
importance of maintaining a varied diet; the health benefits of
plentiful fruit and vegetable consumption; more features on both
physical and psychological factors affecting appetite; advice on
healthful eating in pregnancy.
AFIC has many information resources on
both how to achieve, and the health benefits of long-term healthy
lifestyles. To review, click on
http://www.afic.org/search.asp?ID=4
Functional
Foods
As always a highly popular topic, with
stories on possible benefits of fish and fish sauce, soya, fruit and
vegetables, and foods rich in antioxidants. Articles on foods claimed to
increase/stimulate the human metabolism, how the concept of ying and
yang applies to food and diet, and emerging scientific research on the
role of diet in eye health were also published.
For more information, see AFIC’s
article ‘The Function of Foods’ by clicking on
http://www.afic.org/The%20Function%20of%20Foods.htm . Also, ‘Plant
Power’
http://www.afic.org/Plant%20Power.htm
The
Asian Food information Centre is a not-for profit Singapore-registered
organization
Its
mission is to effectively communicate sound science based information on
food safety, health and nutrition
to the
media and other key audiences in Asia
