Was your last meal a Malaysian Healthy plate –according to quarter, quarter, half? Ministry of Health Malaysia promotes Suku-Suku Separuh, the division of plate portion to a quarter for protein, a quarter for complex carbohydrates and half for fruits and vegetables. It is an easy way to portion out the types of food our body needs.
The Malaysian Healthy Plate or Suku-Suku Separuh is not the norm for most of us, which has led to an obesity epidemic among adults, and children. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Tackling Obesity in ASEAN Report[1], Malaysia’s prevalence of obesity is at 13.3%, which is the highest in South East Asia. Malaysia was among the top three countries in Asia[2] with high percentage 11.5% of obese children, aged between six months and 12 years.
Ayam Brand™, a homegrown household name famed for its wide range of quality, no preservatives and no added MSG, healthy and convenient canned food, is taking on the big issue of obesity among Malaysian children by incorporating the 3S concept of the Malaysian Healthy Plate into its annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme. This year, the brand is expanding the CSR program to children from primary schools as well.
The theme for this year’s campaign is ‘Ayam Brand™ Community Care Campaign 2019, Get Healthy Malaysia, Start Now’. It will empower children from 10 states with information to identify healthier food choices and equip them with skills to prepare their own Malaysian Healthy Plate meal. The program is open to children from eight years up.
According to Ayam Brand™ Chairman, Yang Mulia Tunku Dato’ Mu’tamir Bin Tunku Tan Sri Mohamed, the CSR campaign which is now in its twelfth year has contributed 1.76 million healthy meals for charity, providing nutritious food to more than 20,000 people from 482 charity homes and NGOs.
This year campaign aided and educated 42 charity homes, educated 25 schools nationwide, over three months, estimated 1,800 recipients with 324,000 Ayam Brand meals.
“As a leader in the Malaysian food industry for more than 100 years, Ayam Brand™ is extremely concerned on the obesity epidemic in the country and set out to assist, starting with children as they are the once who are most teachable and reachable. We developed the Get Healthy Malaysia, Start Now program with the hope that we could help reduce child obesity by equipping children with the knowledge and skills to choose, make and prepare more nutritious foods,” Tunku Dato’ Mu’tamir said.
“We have been carrying out our annual CSR campaign for 12 years, and it was time for us to expand it to benefit more children by bringing them the Quarter, Quarter, Half (Suku-Suku Separuh) message through activations that would make it easy to understand, with tips that they could use at home, and share with their friends and family,” Tunku Dato’ Mu’tamir added.
Ayam Brand held its finale campaign at KPJ Ampang Puteri Specialist, one of the premier hospital in Malaysia as well as South East Asia.
At the finale event, KPJ Ampang Puteri Specialist Dietician, Mrs. Nur Hayati Azmi shared with the participants on living and eating healthily.
“KPJ Ampang Puteri Specialist is glad to work with Ayam Brand in its annual CSR campaign. Adhering to the adage that prevention is better than cure, we are commited to reaching out to the community and sharing vital health knowledge. We appreciate the partnership as we see the campaign by Ayam Brand is reaching out to the nation and the brand has done it successfully for many years.” Dato Dr Abdul Wahab Abdul Ghani, Medical Director, KPJ Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital.
For a balanced meal, one quarter of the plate should be protein that can be found in fish, beans, meat, poultry, eggs, in palm-sized portion; one quarter of carbohydrate from rice, noodle, bread, cereals, wholegrain products, in fist-sized portion, and half the plate with vegetables and fruits, in palm-sized.
In Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, 40 children from 257 participated in the informative, challenging and fun ‘Ayam Brand™ Community Care Campaign 2019, Get Healthy Malaysia, Start Now’ (Sihatkan Malaysia, Mulakan Sekarang).
The event kicked off with an interactive introduction to the #sukusukuseparuh concept, followed by ten teams each comprising of four children preparing a meal based on the 3S principles, within 30 minutes with minimal assistance from adults, using recipes that have been vetted by nutritionist.
While waiting for their Malaysian Healthy Plate meals to be evaluated the children were challenged with games that required Higher Order Thinking Skills to reinforce what they had learned on good nutrition.
“Today I learnt that I need to eat more vegetables, fruits and proteins, and reduce the rice and bread that I like so much. The food I made today was very tasty, and it was healthy too. I will try to eat balanced meals every day to be healthier, and will do more exercise,” said one of the participants.
Ayam Brand™ took taking the campaign online and amplifying it via social media through activations such as the Show Us Your Healthy Plate contest, as well as sharing the live updates of the event.
The six charity homes received two months’ supply of Ayam Brand™ products equivalent to 46,260 healthy meals for the total of 257 residents at these homes.
The winning team for the Ayam Brand Suku-Suku Separuh Healthy Festival 2019 for Kuala Lumpur and Selangor was Yatasan Chow Kit. The team received a trophy and certificates from Ayam Brand for their Malaysian Healthy Plate of tuna stuffed hard-boiled egg, fried rice and apple salad.
“Ayam Brand™ has been supporting NGOs for many years, and homes always look forward to being selected as their product contribution has seen many a home through tough times when donations were scarce. Our thanks to Ayam Brand™ for consistently caring for the community,” said Mr. David from Persatuan Rumah Kids.
Want to help more communities? Visit the Ayam Brand™ e-charity at https://www.ayambrand.com.my/e-charity.html and purchase Ayam Brand products to be contributed to a charity of your choice. The Ayam Brand™ e-charity offers 15% off retail prices, and free delivery to make it easier for more charity organisations to Get Healthy Malaysia, Start Now.
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