Eating is a necessity. It is essential in providing us with energy and nutrients as we go through our daily activities. For some, having three meals a day is more than enough.

However, Malaysia is now known as the fattest nation in Asia (from a study by a British medical journal), as there are others who wouldn’t mind binging daily on food, and such prolonged habits in turn could lead to an onset of diabetes or obesity.

At Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), a campus-wide initiative to manage the issue of obesity has been launched by the USM Vice-Chancellor, Professor Datuk Dr. Asma Ismail and put into motion with the introduction of the #USMFIT plan.

 

Aiming to promote a healthy lifestyle among the USM community, a #USMFIT application has been introduced to be utilised by the participants. It would monitor each participant’s progress through activities and plans such as taking walks or hikes on the USMFit Trails; assessment of one’s body weight and fat content, assisted by trainers for the USMFit Challenge; introducing health and wellbeing measures such as the ‘sit-stand’ workstations as part of the USMFit Active Campus; and offering healthy food tips to those with a hectic lifestyle through the USMFit Nutritional Tips.

There are of course other options for those who would like to reduce their body weight. The USM Islamic Centre has also introduced a slightly different approach to losing weight, which is through the practice of fasting on certain days. Other than being able to lose weight, fasting on Mondays and Thursdays are encouraged for the Muslims for religious benefits. This is not to say that non-Muslims are excluded from the practice. There are documented results on the benefits of fasting dating back to the time of Hippocrates, and currently there are 7 different types of fasting practised for total body wellness.

President of the Nutrition Society of Malaysia, Dr. Tee E Siong, the nation’s leading nutrition expert said that real problem is not the type of food people eat, but how much of it, and their lifestyle.

Tee, who has a doctorate in food science from Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang said, "Malaysians are always eating. They don't exercise," he said. "But you don't need to go to the gym. You need to walk outside. It's free. Get off your chair and move!"

In 2002, Tee started a consulting business, TES NutriHealth, for small food companies. Then, in 2014, he created the South-east Asian Public Health Nutrition Network, or SEA-PHN, with nutrition leaders from Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam.

Another method of losing weight would be to eat at a slower pace. Dr. Sumit Talwar, from the Manipal Hospital in Bangalore, Karnataka, India has suggested slow eating as means of losing weight. This is due to the fact that the human brain will only receive the signal that the stomach is full 20 to 30 minutes later, after the stomach has reached its limits. By eating slowly, this would allow for the satiety signal to reach the brain in time, and to have the feeling of fullness readily understood, indicating that it’s time to stop eating.

Similar findings were reported by researchers from Kyushu University, Japan in the BMJ Open journal, stating that “changes in eating speed can affect changes in obesity, BMI and waist circumference.” This is supported by a statement from Simon Cork at Imperial College London, where he said “it confirms what we already believe, that eating slowly is associated with less weight gain than eating quickly”.

Deliberate slow eating would prevent a person from overeating or binging on the food that’s within reach. The slow eating action would allow the person at the same time to:

• Observe – the reactions of the body from having an empty stomach to one that’s full.
• Savour – the texture, aroma and flavour of the food being consumed.
• Aware – of the taste of food to be enjoyed, compared to mindless munching.
• Non-judgemental – on the action of eating, avoiding the sense of being too indulgent and to be mindful of the action.
• In the moment – on eating while being fully aware and to sit and focus solely on eating, and not having distractions such as turning on the TV.

As we undergo our hectic life nowadays, we need not forget that caring for our health is as important as our commitment to seeking wealth. Minding how we eat would be one way that we can do, to ensure that our health would always be at its best, and in turn to be more productive at work and in life.

Text: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin