Thai Kids Dont Eat Enough Veg

[Buff-horns]

Not enough veggies in Thai kids' diets

Thai children are suffering from poor nutrition with most of them, particularly those in the Northeast, eating fewer vegetables and more junk food. Sa-nga Damapong, a health expert and adviser to the Nutrition Association of Thailand, said Thai eating habits had changed greatly. Most people had forgotten the roots of Thai food culture and local wisdom and now relied heavily on foreign food technology.

In the old days, fresh home-grown vegetables were the main ingredients of Thai dishes. Today people tended to depend on food products bought from shops, convenience stores or supermarkets, Mr Sa-nga said.

Statistics showed most Thai children, particularly those in the Northeast, shunned vegetables and favoured ready-to-eat food and soft drinks, Mr Sa-nga told a seminar held in the northeastern province of Khon Kaen.

Discussing nutrition problems in the Northeast, he said Isan children aged 1-5 years old were eating far fewer vegetables than youngsters in other parts of the country.

Children in the South ate the most with vegetables making up an average 53% of their daily diet, followed by those in the North (51%), the Central Region (51%) and the Northeast (27%).

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that people should eat 500 grammes of vegetables and fruit daily. Thais eat only 186.6gm per day on average.

On soft drink consumption among children aged 1-5 years, it was found that children in the South formed the largest group of consumers (57%), followed by those in the Northeast (47%), in the North (46%) and the Central Region (45%).

Instant noodles were found to be most popular among Isan children, making up 61% of consumers, compared to 32% in the North, 25% in the South and 5.5% in the Central Region. An average of 39% of children throughout the country ate instant noodles.

''Because of rapid cultural changes associated with eating, the eating habit of northeasterners has changed. In the past, poor Isan children were malnourished. Now they have enough food but don't know how to eat healthily,'' said Mr Sa-nga.

''As a result, they have become unhealthy, fat and short and suffer a decline in their intelligence quotients (IQ) due to the lack of iodine, iron and protein intakes needed to feed their brain cells.''

Mr Sa-nga said poor nutrition as a result of bad eating habits had caused Thai children to have low IQs. According to the accepted standard, children aged 6-13 should have an average IQ of 90-100, he said.

Thai children, however, had an average IQ of 88.8, with those in Bangkok having the highest level at 94.6%, followed by those in the Central Region at 88.8, the South at 88.1, the Northeast at 85.9, and the North at 84.2.

Source

freshplaza.com

[Neeranam]

Surprising as the song, "pom ow carrot ma faak" was a huge hit up here.

All the kids I know know the line , "paak mee vitamin, mai dtong gin kong paeng" (vegetables have vitamin, no need to eat expensive things"

[lopburi3]

Not that these very exact figures could be wrong or anything but the cited source appears to have more than a passing interest in selling veggies.

Also affiliated with www.agf.nl is Boekhout Publishers, which publishes and distributes an annual catalogue targeting the Dutch fresh produce business. This is an extensive reference book in which the majority of the Dutch brokers and processors of fresh fruit, potatoes and vegetables are listed.

[richard10365]

Not enough veggies in Thai kids' diets

Children in the South ate the most with vegetables making up an average 53% of their daily diet, followed by those in the North (51%), the Central Region (51%) and the Northeast (27%).

''As a result, they have become unhealthy, fat and short and suffer a decline in their intelligence quotients (IQ) due to the lack of iodine, iron and protein intakes needed to feed their brain cells.''

Mr Sa-nga said poor nutrition as a result of bad eating habits had caused Thai children to have low IQs. According to the accepted standard, children aged 6-13 should have an average IQ of 90-100, he said.

Thai children, however, had an average IQ of 88.8, with those in Bangkok having the highest level at 94.6%, followed by those in the Central Region at 88.8, the South at 88.1, the Northeast at 85.9, and the North at 84.2.

Source

freshplaza.com

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What a bunch of crap.

I do believe diet is important but this guy wants everyone to believe Thai children are shorter than ever before because they don't eat enough veggies. Maybe possible but I don't think all children are shorter than ever before.

He quotes % of veggies eaten and in 3 of the provinces it's over 50% of their diet. 50% to me seems like a lot of veggies in a diet. Most probably still eat fruit (i'm guessing 10% to 15%of their diet), rice and meat.

Where I live, there are not many supermarkets and Thai people depend heavily on fresh fruits and veggies being sold at the market.

I have been in Thai schools before and see how they grade. I think Thai childrens IQs have more to do with their education system than their diet.

How many 6 year old kids have an IQ of 90?

Anyway..as I said before.....veggies are very important for children but I think he is stretching the truth a bit.

[billd766]

I cannot say about the IQ results but my son is 14 months old and my wife and I do our best to make sure that he eats REAL food and not junk food. Unfortunately my wifes brother, S, in Law and their son (nearly 4) and a friend with her 4 year old daughter are staying with us and it is a hard job stopping our son when he sees them eating junk food. It works most of the time whenwe tell them but sometimes the kids give him some and then cry when I shout at them.

None of them work so they have ample time to cook fresh but they go to 7/11 and places like that and buy junk for their kids.

It drives me crazy at times.

Since we lived up country most of the food that I eat is local though I do have toast and butter/flora and some processed foods but that is mostly for me. I am sure that I feel a bit healthier now that I also have cut back on junk foods. On the other hand when I go to the supermarket every week or 10 days I pig out on KFC but not McD as I dont like their food.

[Chayakon]

I've noticed a lot of overweight kids and a lot of obesity compared to say 5 years ago out here, junk food (kfc etc) is very popular among Thais especially younger ones. Maybe it was always this way or its coz I'm more aware that my 2 yr old eats a healthy diet and not just 'deep fried and boiled to death'