Systems-level changes to encourage healthy living, and a shift in mindsets of parents, employers and the private sector, are needed to tackle the pressing problem of overweight and obesity in Singapore, says Professor Chia Kee Seng, Dean, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore.
Singapore has the second-highest overweight prevalence in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – at 32.8 per cent, and among the ASEAN 6, ties with the Philippines for the third-highest rate of increase in number of obese people between 2010 and 2014, at 24 per cent.
Incidence of obesity and overweight is increasing rapidly in Southeast Asia. Today, with between 20 to 35 per cent of adults overweight, obesity is reducing productive (working) life by an average of four to nine years, while the total (direct and indirect) costs of obesity can amount to as much as US$10billion in Southeast Asia, according to a report released today by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has launched “Tackling Obesity in ASEAN: Prevalence, impact, and guidance on interventions.” This report, commissioned by the Asia Roundtable on Food Innovation for Improved Nutrition (ARoFIIN), analyses obesity in ASEAN through consumer and healthcare practitioner surveys, an intervention effectiveness analysis and an assessment of the economic impact of obesity.
The Asia Roundtable on Food Innovation for Improved Nutrition (ARoFIIN) had its third annual roundtable on 27 April in Singapore. Kicked off with an introduction by Bruno Kistner, ARoFIIN Secretary, the event featured presentations by representatives from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Singapore’s Health Promotion Board (HPB), Taylor’s University and BioAnalyt GmbH.
In Asia, malnutrition – or lack of proper diet and nutrients – affects millions of children, severely limiting their potential. While there has been some progress on reducing malnutrition, a combination of global trends – climate change, economic uncertainty and volatile food prices – is putting the future progress on tackling malnutrition at risk.
The Food Science & Technology Programme (FST) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) organised its annual NUS-FST Industry Day on 12 April, where students had the opportunity to present their final-year projects and engage with representatives from the food industry and government agencies.
What kind of team spends 60 days traveling around the world in search of not just the best food, but also a global perspective on innovation? Meet the delegates of the Food Innovation Global Mission (FIGM) – 14 students who hail from countries and fields of studies far and wide to study about the development and diffusion of radical innovations in the food industry. During their stop in Singapore, the students took part in a Design Thinking Workshop that was held in conjunction with ARoFIIN.
The global rise in modern lifestyle diseases calls for urgent attention to diet-based nutritional interventions across the entire socioeconomic consumer spectrum, says Nese Sreenivasulu, Head of Grain Quality and Nutrition Centre, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The solution, he said, can be found in diversifying into more food products with greater health benefits.
45RICE is a social enterprise dedicated to improving lives through nutrition. With the motto “fortifying every meal”, 45RICE brings essential vitamins and minerals to a bowl of rice, turning empty carbs into healthy carbs.
Although the world has made advancements toward the elimination of hunger, malnutrition rates have only improved marginally and continue to result in stunting and wasting, particularly in key Asian economies. Improving of access to nutritious food intake can start at the food production stage, through food fortification.
More so than infectious diseases and other traditional healthcare issues, obesity is fast becoming the top risk factor targeting public health. As the issue grows in Asia, a unique public-private partnership is driving food innovation to tackle obesity in the region.
