Health Minister Warns Poor Diet Today Could Trigger Stroke a Decade Later
Health Minister Budi Gunadi has reminded the public that the threat of non-communicable diseases (PTM) such as stroke, heart disease, cancer and kidney disorders is the result of accumulated long-term poor habits. Often, feeling physically fit today deceives people’s awareness of investing in their future health.
“Many people feel healthy today, yet in five or ten years they risk suffering a stroke or heart attack because of a poor diet,” Budi said in a statement on Saturday (11/7).
According to data from the 2023 Indonesia Health Survey (SKI), 96.7 per cent of the population aged five and above consume insufficient fruit and vegetables. In addition, 33.7 per cent of the population are fond of consuming sweet foods and 47.5 per cent favour sugary drinks. Obesity rates among those aged 18 and above have also surged from 15.4 per cent in 2013 to 23.4 per cent in 2023.
As part of its policy to control non-communicable disease risk, the Health Ministry is vigorously promoting the Nutri-Level programme. The policy is designed so that the public can easily understand, compare and choose food products based on their sugar, salt and fat content (GGL).
“The focus of Nutri-Level is on strengthening consumer education while shopping, not on banning products from the market,” he said.
Budi specifically asked TikTok content creators to help package this health education in a youthful style so that it becomes a popular trend.
“Please help me educate the public in a young people’s style. Make healthy eating a trend. Teach that drinking black coffee without sugar is cool, and eating boiled food or salads is a trendy lifestyle,” Budi urged.
Meanwhile, Noudhy Valdryno, Head of Public Policy at TikTok Indonesia, said that on the TikTok platform, food topics, including healthy food, are among the most widely discovered and shared content.
“Every day, millions of users come to TikTok to find recipes, cooking inspiration, food recommendations and various simple ways to lead a healthier lifestyle,” Noudhy added.
This is clearly evident from the millions of posts using various popular hashtags.
Given this enormous enthusiasm, it is hoped that the public can use TikTok to find healthy living inspiration in a way that is more easily understood, relevant and close to daily life through content produced by creators.
Niken Wastu Palupi, Director of Health Promotion and Community Health at the Health Ministry, added that the solution to malnutrition problems is actually close to home through local foods that are fresher and free from excessive processing (ultra-processed food).
The Health Ministry has set maximum daily consumption limits of four tablespoons of sugar, one teaspoon of salt and five tablespoons of fat per day.