- Published: 16/10/2012 at 03:13 PM
- Writer: Online Reporters
Dr Sophon Mekthon was speaking at the launch of a campaign to enourage people to eat more healthily.
The health ministry is cooperating with the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, the Royal College of Physicians of Thailand (RCPT) and the network for consuming less salt.
Dr Sophon said a survey showed that Thais on average consume about 5,000 milligrammes of sodium salt a day, twice the recommended daily maximum of 2,400 mg, or about one teaspoon, per day.
As a result of consuming salty foods, 21.4% or 11.5 million Thai people were suffering from high blood pressure, 17.5% or 7.6 million from kidney ailments, 1.4% or 750,000 from constricted heart arteries, and 1.1% or half a million from cerebrovascular disease.
Dr Sophon said foods with a high salt or sodium content are hazardous to health.
The ministry has an ongoing policy to improve people's health, he said. The objective is to reduce the incidence of five prevalent diseases: diabetes, high blood pressure, heart blood shortage, cerebrovascular disease and cancer.
Dr Kriang Tangsanga, the RCPT chairman, said the college is responsible for educating the public and medical and public health staff to ensure understanding of these illnesses, and for changing people's eating behaviour to improve their health and reduce the need for expensive treatments for chronic diseases.
This task is carried out, with cooperation from various health associations, under the project to campaign for reduction of sodium intake under the slogan, "Halve salt intake. Stay away from illness."
Dr Surasak Kantachuvessiri, chairman of the network for consuming less salt, said a survey revealed that about 70% of people buy lunch from food shops and stalls, mostly rice with curry, a quick dish cooked to order, or noodles.
The five most popular seasonings are fish sauce, soy sauce, salt, shrimp paste and oyster sauce, all with high sodium content, he said.
People should avoid pickled or processed foods, cut down on consumption of noodle soup and check the sodium content on the label of processed foods before consumption, he added.
Share your thoughts
- Discussion 1 : 18/10/2012 at 09:12 PM
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Doesn't the Japanese diet have similar added ingredients? Fish sauce, soy sauce, salt, shrimp paste and oyster sauce. I've read they have one of the healthiest diets in the world. Maybe that's not true?
- Discussion 2 : 17/10/2012 at 07:41 AM
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D10, Spiceman,
You got it correct about exercise, I hope the public listen to you. I am 67 years old and never in my life had to control my diet. I have just completed my annual medical check up with everything normal for a person 10 years my junior. I put this down to regular exercise, it gets rid of the nasty stuff your body doesn't need, and you can feel that it does.
- Discussion 3 : 17/10/2012 at 07:22 AM
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Khun Bop #12, I think you'll have a better luck banning Ya Bah than MSG. I believe consumers will have to vote with their Bahts whether they want MSG in their food or not.
- Discussion 4 : 17/10/2012 at 06:53 AM
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Simple solution: Ban MSG in food products.
- Discussion 5 : 17/10/2012 at 06:46 AM
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Thailand, land of extremes. Over muk muk on salt and sugur too.
- Discussion 6 : 17/10/2012 at 06:22 AM
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You guys seems to forget about daily exercise. Because of my addiction to fish sauce, ingrained in my Thai DNA, and living in cool climate, I have to exercise regularly, or my blood pressure will go through the roof. So, whatever food you eat, you can pretty much burn it out by doing regular exercise.
- Discussion 7 : 17/10/2012 at 12:29 AM
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Coca Cola, ice tea, etc. contain lots of sugar; it seems even double of what they contain in Europe.
Even fruit juices given in Thai hospitals contain 25 % sugar.
If you want sugar-free fruit juice, you have to buy the one imported from South-Africa (Ceres brand).
- Discussion 8 : 17/10/2012 at 12:08 AM
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I always wonder where this type of public awareness campaign takes place. I never see government adds on the BTS, on those giant TV screens in prime shopping areas or TV. Nor do I see posters in the streets. So how is this plan of Dr Sophon going to be implemented?
- Discussion 9 : 16/10/2012 at 10:07 PM
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Coming from Canada where almost everything has content labels, it's hard to know what's in Thai food delicious as it mostly is. I believe that one of the biggest problems is MSG which is often added indiscriminately to almost everything supposedly to improve the taste. This chemical does nothing for the flavour of the food but acts on the taste buds. If food is fresh, nothing extra should be added. That being said, often when you ask if MSG has been added, the answer will be 'no' because many restaurants/vendors are aware that people wish to avoid it and don't want to lose business. Aside from this issue, fish sauce is like the salt of western food - overused!
M
from iPhone application.
- Discussion 10 : 16/10/2012 at 09:37 PM
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Mr. Sophon Mekthon Kraphom, You should seriously try to tackle the sugar problem in Thailand which is a far more serious health problem, notably Diabetes than salt. To say "As a result of consuming salty foods, 21.4% or 11.5 million of Thai people were suffering from high blood pressure, etc etc." is rather misleading as well. There are many other reasons for the illnesses mentioned and only one of them is excessive salt intake. Push for more stringent rules for producers of fast foods and soft drinks is a beginning. Unfortunately the sugar lobby is very strong in Thailand and just ringing the alarm bell is doing absolutely nothing. Our food chain is poisoned long ago by the Monsanto's and their hench-men in Thailand, CP, with outlets on every conceivable corner everywhere.
- Discussion 11 : 16/10/2012 at 08:24 PM
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During British military service for several years in the early 60s at Singapore, Malaysia and Hong kong we were given salt (sodium chloride) tablets to be taken daily to combat sodium deficiency. This stopped very quickly after about 4 months when it was realized they were causing medical problems such as stomach ulcers and high blood pressure. For the remainder of the years only normal food was eaten, and i cannot remember of any related medical problems.
I think the consumption of processed and junk food which were not available in Thailand until relatively recent years, and are known for their high content of sodium, are the reason for the jump in blood pressures.
- Discussion 12 : 16/10/2012 at 07:26 PM
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Is the good doctor sponsored by the sugar industry ?
Apart from 5 grammes of salt, Thai people also consume nearly one kilogramme of (processed) sugar and spoonfuls of monosodium glutamate a day.
If you don’t consume enough salt you risk going into a coma from sodium deficiency, especially in hot countries.
- Discussion 13 : 16/10/2012 at 06:07 PM
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I suggest that the doctor looks into the Thai intake of sugar. It is incredibly high. I see Thai's all day stuffing sweets into their mouth and Thai's are getting fat from it! Just look around and think back 15 years ago and the picture was quite a contrast from the obese beings that you see today.
- Discussion 14 : 16/10/2012 at 05:01 PM
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Many years ago, more than I want to admit to, Bangkok street food was just amazing, cooked with traditional ingredients and served with pride. Film stars used to turn up in the early hours at the street stalls I frequented just to enjoy the top quality food and the atmosphere. Sadly, that's not the case any more. People with no real ability or training, unwilling to look for any other work, now open food stalls, expecting the money to roll in, and serve unhealthy tasteless dishes with shortcut ingredients and loaded with MSG to boost the false flavours. Yuck. So I don't eat street food any more. I miss it. Shame.
- Discussion 15 : 16/10/2012 at 04:34 PM
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Thailand is hot all year round, people loss salt(sodium) by perspiration. Eating salty food are ingrained in the genes. Only way to reduce salt is people have to do home cooking . you know what and how much ingredient you put in your cooking. How about the food you and your mom bring home at the end of the day after work? Ready to eat home cooking by someone else(plastic bags with rubberbands containers) are not labelled. Is this one of ongoing problems in Thailand which being recognized now? Thailand has many other projects(Diseases) which never cured. Please solve the obvious problems first before move on to others.
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