Good eating habits, not a cultural issue

Dear Dr. Donya,

I think you are too kind when you speak about different eating cultures, referring to what, according to me, are nothing but bad habits: giving small children spicy food which are often not healthy even for adults. Frankly speaking, I think these habits do not merit to be included among cultural behaviors to be preserved.

In my opinion, the result of bad eating habits can be seen very clearly, especially in Indonesian women, who, very often, have their beautiful faces ruined by skin eruptions and acne. I would like to avoid that for my daughter, who, being less than three years old, cannot choose by herself.

Based on my personal experience, the above-mentioned practices cannot be corrected or improved by family discussion (among wife and husband), but need mostly clear and strong statements from somebody who can be trusted, like a family doctor or a well known and appreciated physician.

As a matter of fact, this and other similar behaviors are very often the result of deep ignorance, which is sometimes nurtured by the lack of suitable information coming from pediatricians and health education, in general. I refer, for instance, to the doctors' habit of not providing the patients with basic information about preventive measures for diseases, or about the specific function of each medicine prescribed.

Sometimes doctors, who directly sell medicines, also completely eliminate original brochures of the products, selling them at very arbitrary and high prices, without name -- only hand-written stickers with prescribed dosages.

In fact, these and other related matters, which involve also a lack of the Epicurean mission spirit on the part of many Indonesian doctors, is a social problem which touches me very deeply. I don't know if this is related to my personal experience, and to the fact that I have a small daughter, who brings me to a somehow rigid position. I would like, therefore, to have your personal, precious advice on the above matters.

-- G. Comparini

Dear Compa,

I am appreciative of your awareness and concern about your daughter.

Frankly you cannot depend on others to tell you or your spouse what to do and what to give. Even your family doctor can only suggest what to do but what you do is still a family decision.

As for the physician and medication, I agree. I talked to a few doctors about this issue and they said, in Asia many countries are very free about selling medicine without a prescription. One point is the physician's concern because he or she doesn't want a patient to go buy drugs themselves and use them without knowing about them.

-- Dr. Donya