Malaysia Healthy Plate (My Plate)

Yesterday I was on air in Kedah FM (one of the Malaysia Government's radio stations) sharing about our Malaysia Healthy Plate. The experience was cool as that was my first time to deliver a talk on air in such radio program.

Malaysia government, particularly Nutrition Division of Ministry of Health Malaysia, is now actively promoting the Malaysia Healthy Plate via various programs and channels, mainly health promotion campaigns, radio talks and television advertisements. This is due to current increasing trend in prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCD). Some examples of these NCD are diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hypercholestrolemia, and even obesity.  I'm sure whoever reading my post are known with what is NCD about.

Data from World Health Organization (WHO) had shown that, in 2014, there was 73% of total death in Malaysia were due to NCD. And, the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2015 showed increasing trend in diabetes mellitus (from 11.6% to 17.5%) and hypercholestrolemia (from 20.7% to 47.7%) from 2006 to 2015. The survey also showed that overweight and obesity had became a public health problem in the country and the prevalence for both overweight and obesity was nearly half of the total population in Malaysia! This sounds scary!

To prevent NCD, we actually can have healthy eating pattern and being physically active. However, such scenario is not happen in Malaysia. What a sad thing is! In 2014, Malaysia Adult Nutrition Survey (MANS) reported that about 94% of Malaysian adult do not meet the recommended intake of vegetables and/or fruits, which is 3 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruits. In NHMS 2015, data showed that 33.5% of Malaysian adults were not physically active.

For those reasons, there are more initiatives and interventions should be figure out to promote more actively to the public about healthy lifestyle and NCD prevention. Hence, to promote healthy eating, Malaysia Healthy Plate was created recently through "Quarter-Quarter-Half" campaign as a new education medium by the Ministry of Health Malaysia, which is more easy to understand by the public.

So, what is the Malaysia Healthy Plate, and who is suitable to use it?

Malaysia Healthy Plate was created as a medium for easier in translating the massages in Malaysia Dietary Guidelines 2010 and the Malaysia Food Pyramid 2010. Both Malaysia Healthy Plate and Malaysia Food Pyramid are educational materials which are used for delivering the same massages n healthy eating. However, the Malaysia Healthy Plate as a visual tools aims for easier visualization in meal planning which will help in:

• increasing the intake of fruits and vegetables
• control portion size of carbohydrate based foods
• encouraging the intake of whole grains food products
• ensuring adequate intake of protein source foods (fish, poultry, meat and legumes)
• encourage intake of plain water
• foods have to be low fat, salt and sugar, which is mentioned in Malaysia Dietary Guidelines

How to plan a meal using Malaysia Healthy Plate?

This Plate highlights increase intake of fruits and vegetables and ensuring intake of carbohydrate and protein foods is within the recommended intake, not taking excessively. 

To plan a meal, there are several steps as follow:

1. Imagine that there are 3 compartments/segments on an eating plate.

By using a 10cm diameter plate, imagine that the plate is divided into half. One of the half is then divided half again becoming 2 quarters. Another half is remain.  So, there will be 2 quarters and a half segments on the plate.

2. Feel in the first quarter segment with either rice, noodle, bread, grains, grains products or potatos. Whole grains is recommended.

This group of foods is the main energy source for daily activities. Rice is the main staple food for most of the Malaysians. It is encouraged that Malaysians should choose whole grains food products  filling in this first quarter. Taking whole grains foods will help in reducing the bowel movement problem, increasing fullness which help in body weight control, and then reducing the risk of heart problems and diabetes. The whole grains foods are good source of dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals. Examples of whole grains foods are corn, brown rice, whole meal bread, whole meal pasta, whole meal biscuit and oat.

3. Feel in  the second quarter segment with either fish, poultry, egg, meat or legumes, which are protein rich foods.

There are 2 types of proteins, which are animal protein (fish, poultry, egg and meat) and plant protein (soy, legumes and tauhu). Fishes, such as salmon and tuna, are more recommended to take more frequent in a week as fishes rich in omega-3 fatty acids which are beneficial to heart health. Besides, choose parts of either poultry or meat which has less fat to reduce intake of saturated fats.  Diet that is high in saturated fats will increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Plant proteins is another recommended protein to be taken as these foods usual low in saturated fats and also rich in vitamins and minerals. Some examples of plant proteins are legumes (soy, red bean, walnuts and pistachio) and seeds.

4. Feel the remaining half segment with vegetables and 1 serving of fruit.

Any types of vegetables can be taken. And, prepare the vegetables with healthy cooking methods, such as steaming and stir frying. Any types of fruits can be taken in meal. Both vegetables and fruits are rich in fiber, vitamins and minerals. Diet that is high in dietary fiber can help in reducing risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hypertension and obesity.

5. To complete a meal, it is recommended to take a glass of plain water, milk, milk products, or non-sugary drinks. 

It is encouraged to take plain water rather than sugary drink in order to reduce calorie intake, controlling body weight and avoiding dental caries. 6-8 glass of plain water is recommended to be taken in a day. Milk and milk products are good calcium source for teeth and bone health, and also rich in protein, vitamin A and vitamin B2. It is recommended to take skim and low fat milk and milk products. Soy milk and soy products also can help in meeting daily calcium needs.

There are 5 main massages delivered to support in practicing this Malaysia Healthy Plate in daily meal planing.

The 5 key massages are:

1. Consume 3 regular healthy main meals daily
2. Take healthy snack in between main meals if need
3. Consume at least half of your grains from whole grains
4. Consume non-fried and coconut milk-free dishes daily
5. Take home cooked foods moreoften

To eat healthily actually can be much more simple if everyone can practicing this My Plate. No mater how your meal planning is, make sure it is healthy and balance. And lastly, the most important is, always stay physically active!