scholarly journals Transforming the food system to fight non-communicable diseases

BMJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. l296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Branca ◽  
Anna Lartey ◽  
Stineke Oenema ◽  
Victor Aguayo ◽  
Gunhild A Stordalen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food System ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases

scholarly journals Macro- and Micronutrients from Traditional Food Plants Could Improve Nutrition and Reduce Non-Communicable Diseases of Islanders on Atolls in the South Pacific

Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 942 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Lyons ◽  
Geoff Dean ◽  
Routan Tongaiaba ◽  
Siosiua Halavatau ◽  
Kabuati Nakabuta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food System ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Food Plants ◽  
School Food ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases ◽  
Planting Material ◽  
Cnidoscolus Aconitifolius ◽  
Food Gardens ◽  
Imported Foods

Pacific Islanders have paid dearly for abandoning traditional diets, with diabetes and other non-communicable diseases (NCD) widespread. Starchy root crops like sweet potato, taro, and cassava are difficult to grow on the potassium-deficient soils of atolls, and high energy, low nutrient imported foods and drinks are popular. Nutritious, leafy food plants adapted to alkaline, salty, coral soils could form part of a food system strategy to reduce NCD rates. This project targeted four atolls south of Tarawa, Kiribati, and was later extended to Tuvalu. Mineral levels in diverse, local leafy food plants were compared to reveal genotype–environment interactions. Food plants varied in ability to accumulate minerals in leaves and in tolerance of mineral-deficient soils. Awareness activities which included agriculture, health, and education officers targeted atoll communities. Agriculture staff grew planting material in nurseries and provided it to farmers. Rejuvenation of abandoned giant swamp taro pits to form diversified nutritious food gardens was encouraged. Factsheets promoted the most suitable species from 24 analyzed, with multiple samples of each. These included Cnidoscolus aconitifolius (chaya), Pseuderanthemum whartonianum (ofenga), Polyscias scutellaria (hedge panax), and Portulaca oleracea (purslane). The promoted plants have been shown in other studies to have anti-NCD effects. Inclusion of the findings in school curricula and practical application in the form of demonstration school food gardens, as well as increased uptake by farmers, are needed. Further research is needed on bioavailability of minerals in plants containing phytates and tannins.

scholarly journals Nutrition Transition and Traditional Food Cultural Changes in Sri Lanka during Colonization and Post-Colonization

Foods ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Permani Weerasekara ◽  
Chandana Withanachchi ◽  
G. Ginigaddara ◽  
Angelika Ploeger
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Food System ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Food Culture ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Traditional Food ◽  
Micronutrient Deficiencies ◽  
Sociological Study ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases

Sri Lanka was a colony of the Portuguese, Dutch, and British. The simplification of Sri Lankan food culture can be seen most clearly today, including how the diet has been changed in the last 400 years since the colonial occupation began. Therefore, greater efforts must be made to uncover the colonial forces that have undermined food security and health in Sri Lanka. Also traditional eating habits, which are associated with countless health benefits, have been gradually replaced by the globalized food system of multinational corporations and hidden hunger, a system inherent in the emergence of non-communicable diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, cholesterol, and kidney disease epidemics, in Sri Lanka. This article discusses factors that have underpinned the dietary change in Sri Lanka from its early colonization to the post-colonization period. The research followed the integrated concept in ethnological and sociological study approaches. The study examined literature and conducted several interviews with field experts and senior people in marginal areas in Sri Lanka. This study examines the Sri Lankan traditional food system and how it changed after the colonial period, including the main changes and their impact on current micronutrient deficiencies and non-communicable diseases.

Adipositasprävention und non-communicable diseases

2012 ◽  
Vol 06 (04) ◽  
pp. 249-251
Author(s):  
M. Braun ◽  
J. Ried
Keyword(s):  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
World Health ◽  
Sich Eine ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases ◽  
World Health Assembly

ZusammenfassungDie 65. World Health Assembly hat die Bekämpfung nicht-übertragbarer Krankheiten in den Mittelpunkt globaler Aufmerksamkeit und Aktivität gerückt. Da Übergewicht bzw. Adipositas wesentliche Risikofaktoren für einen erheblichen Teil dieser Erkrankungen darstellen, kommt damit der Prävention (aber auch der Therapie) erhöhten Körpergewichtes in der Programmatik der WHO besondere Bedeutung zu. Gleichzeitig führen die hochgesteckten Ziele der WHO in das fundamentale Dilemma, dass es keine Instrumente gibt, die angestrebten Prävalenz- und Reduktionsraten im vorgegebenen Zeitrahmen zu erreichen. Daraus ergeben sich eine Reihe ethischer und sozialer Fragen, unter anderem nach dem zu Grunde gelegten Modell der Adipositas und den impliziten und expliziten Verantwortlichkeiten für ihre Bekämpfung.

Health and Physical Activity in Urban Neighbourhoods. Case Study: Shah Alam City, Selangor, Malaysia

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Oliver Hoon Leh Ling ◽  
Siti Nur Afiqah Mohamed Musthafa ◽  
Muhammad Solahuddin Hamzah ◽  
Marlyana Azyyati Marzukhi ◽  
Nurul Ashikin Mabahwi
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Health Condition ◽  
Environmental Aspects ◽  
Neighbourhood Environment ◽  
Healthy Life ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases ◽  
Urban Neighbourhoods

Environmental health is referring to the health of people in relation to environmental quality. Due to rapid urbanisation, more people are living in urban neighbourhoods. Urban planning and design aspects including the neighbourhood environment are potentially affecting the human healthy lifestyle and health condition. Thus, the relationship between Malaysian neighbourhood environmental aspects and human health has become the concern of this research. One of the neighbourhood units in Shah Alam city had been chosen as the study area for this purpose. Questionnaire survey had been carried out to examine the health condition and physical activeness of residents. Besides, the perception of residents on the quality of neighbourhood environmental aspects also had been collected in the questionnaire survey. The health condition of residents was measured by non-communicable diseases (NCD) and the physical activeness was measured in duration as well as the frequency of physical exercise activities. The study found that the quality of neighbourhood environmental aspects significantly increased the physical activeness of respondents. The physical activeness was positively associated with human health as measured in NCD (heart diseases and high blood pressure, HBP). It shows that neighbourhood environmental (physical and social) aspects are potentially affecting the healthy life of people living in the neighbourhood.Keywords: Healthy life, Neighbourhood environment, Non-communicable diseases (NCD), Physical activeness, Quality.

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