“Eat Right, Stay Fit, Tabhi India Super Fit” : Dr Vardhan

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi  : “Eat Right, Stay Fit, Tabhi India Super Fit,”said Union Health Minister  Dr Harsh Vardhan as he launched the Eat Right India Movement of FSSAI, the new healthy eating approach which places citizens at the centre of a Health Revolution through food and fitness.

The campaign ‘Eat Right India’ with its new logo and tagline ‘Sahi Bhojan. Behtar Jeevan’ were released by the Health Minister at an event here on September 5, 2019, on the sidelines of the 5-day 72nd Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia’. Preeti Sudan, Secretary (HFW), Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region,  Rita Teotia, Chairperson (FSSAI), and  Pawan Agarwal, CEO (FSSAI), were also present at the event.

Dr Vardhan added that this can become a countrywide movement only with the active support and partnership of every  section of the society including the media, food producers, consumers and other stakeholders. Highlighting the critical importance of a Jan Andolan on issues around nutrition, Dr Vardhan stated that it is part of the vision of PM Narendra Modi that the month of September is being celebrated across the country as “Poshan Maah” (Nutrition Month) to sensitise the public towards healthy eating, address the twin issues of malnutrition/undernutrition and problem of obesity in some sections of the population, and also intensifying the campaign towards a ‘Malnutrition-Free India’.

This movement is aligned with the Government’s flagship public health programmes such as Poshan Abhiyaan, Ayushman Bharat Yojana, and Swachh Bharat Mission to lead us to the New India, which our Prime Minister wishes to deliver to all citizens by 2022, he said, according to a PIB release.

Dr  Vardhan emphasised that the Eat Right India movement is a crucial trigger for the much needed social and behavioural change. This campaign along with the ‘Fit India’ Movement’ launched by PM Narendra Modi will help us fight lifestyle diseases like hypertension, obesity, and diabetes effectively, he added.

“India is passing through an epidemiological shift from communicable to non-communicable diseases, and the burden of diet-related diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity is rising rapidly. The new “food systems approach” judiciously combines the regulatory and capacity building measures with consumer empowerment initiatives,” he stated.

Outlining the measures taken by the Government for escalating the Eat Right movement, Dr Vardhan stated that the Government has prescribed a limit for Total Polar Compounds (TPC) at 25% in cooking oil to avoid the harmful effects of reused cooking oil. Standards for five fortified staples -wheat flour, rice, oil, milk and salt to reduce largescale deficiencies of vitamins and minerals have been notified, in addition to standards for health supplements, nutraceuticals, prebiotics and probiotics products.

The Union Health Minister said that preparatory work for creating awareness around mindful eating is also in place with pilots/prototypes for clusterisation schemes such as Clean Street food Hubs, Clean and Fresh Fruit and Vegetable markets and Eat Right Campus for schools, colleges, workplaces and other campuses being successfully tested on a pan-India basis.