UAE launches National Nutrition Guidelines for food safety
AIM IS TO CHECK CHRONIC DISEASES, OBESITY AMONG KIDS
The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has launched, in collaboration with the UAE’s Food Security Office, the National Nutrition Guidelines to develop food safety systems in sustainable ways, find out radical solutions to health challenges and achieve innovation-based food security.
It also aims at reducing the prevalence of chronic and malnutrition diseases, scaling down non-communicable disease mortality rates and encouraging individuals to engage in physical activities to step up food safety efforts.
Abdul Rahman Bin Mohammad Al Owais, Minister of Health and Prevention, said: “We are expecting that the National Nutrition Guidelines will help curb rates of chronic diseases, improve outcomes of national health indicators and reduce obesity among children and adolescents as per the National Agenda 2021.”
Integrated road map
Achieving the objectives of the National Nutrition Guidelines relies on the implementation of policies and programmes for improving the nutritional status as part of agreed frameworks at the Second International Conference on Nutrition in Rome 2014, Non-Communicable Diseases
Strategy in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Mariam Bint Mohammad
Al Muhairi, Minister of State for Food Security, said: “The National Nutrition Guidelines helps consolidate the propernutrition-based healthy lifestyle in the UAE. Nutrition is one of the key pillars of the National Food Security Strategy.”
Dr Yousuf Al Serkal, Assistant Undersecretary for the Ministry’s Hospitals Sector, said: “The National Nutrition Guidelined are forming a unified national reference for individuals and government entities to raise community awareness about healthy eating behaviour and prevention of lifestyle-related diseases, including malnutrition and obesity, to reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases and to develop sustainable solutions to health and nutritional challenges.”