Modern diet a bane for poor Asian children
Instant noodle diet making Asian children unhealthy,
Lack of nutrition in convenient foods such as instant noodles a cause for concern, warns Unicef.
MANILA: A diet heavy on cheap, modern food like instant noodles that fills bellies but lacks key nutrients has left millions of children unhealthily thin or overweight in South-East 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 kids.
In those three nations, an average of 40% of children aged five and below are malnourished, higher than the global average of one-inthree, according to a report from Unicef, the UN children’s agency 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 fibre,” said Hasbullah Thabrany, a public health expert in Indonesia.
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 show.
Mueni Mutunga, Unicef Asia nutrition specialist, traced the trend back to families ditching traditional diets for affordable, accessible and easy-to-prepare “modern” meals. “Noodles are easy. Noodles are cheap,” she said.
“Noodles are quick and an easy substitute for what should have been a balanced diet.”
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 Unicef report said.
Rolling back the influence instant noddles have on the daily lives, and health, of people in South-East Asia will likely require government intervention, the experts said.
“Promotion and advertising is extremely aggressive,” said Thabrany.
“There is massive distribution. They (instant noodles) are available everywhere, even in the most remote places.”