‘Eat like a pro’ advocacy promotes healthy eating for families

NOT A one-time campaign event but an advocacy, Eat Like a Pro is a healthy eating habit program initiated by Beko, an international home appliance brand in the Philippines.

To start the promotion is the Eat Like a Pro: The Cook-Off challenge, a contest for parent-child tandems which will be held on Aug. 31, 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., at SM Southmall, Activity Center.

The goal of the challenge is for the contestants to create healthy, delicious, and budget-friendly meals for the family. Those who would want to join the challenge should bring their preferred healthy dish, which will be tasted by judges, until the jurors come up with final eight tandems.

“Eating healthy should be enjoyable and not a burden at all,” said Dyeun E. Zapanta, marketing head of BITC (Bhagi’s Integrated Trading Corp.), which is the official distributor of Beko appliances in the Philippines.

During the media launch on Aug. 24 at Milkyway Café, Makati, Mr. Zapanta said that the goal of the advocacy is to “go back to basics,” and enjoy healthier meals, which have less calories and preservatives than canned goods and fast food.

“Replacing unhealthy sugary snacks and fatty food with fruits and vegetables instead can help reduce the risk of obesity,” he said.

The World Health Organization said that there were 124 million obese children and adolescents worldwide in 2016, 10 times more than the 11 million obese people in 1975.

In the Philippines, however, there is a double burden of malnutrition and obesity — meaning kids are not only obese, but some are malnourished, too. According to a Save the Children study, an estimated seven million Filipino children are undernourished while 18 million Filipinos — both adults and children — are overweight.

Mr. Zapanta said the Eat Like a Pro campaign targets both the over- and underweight.

“The median age in the Philippines is 24, meaning there are more of the young generation. In the future, if we are to prolong the life of the youth, we need to promote the campaign, regardless if they can afford to buy fast food or a home-cooked meal. Eating Like a Pro is eating healthily, not only for the obese, but also for the malnourished, for the affluent and not so affluent family — for everyone who consumes food,” he said.

He added: “Let’s increase the median age of our country, let’s eat healthy.”

To sustain the campaign, Beko Philippines shares health tips and easy to follow recipes on its Facebook page.

Beko is an European home appliances brand which has refrigerators, washing machines, and stoves.

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