Asst. Dr. Pareyaasiri Witoonchart (Representative of Center for Health Policy and Management Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital) introduced that Thais consumed highly-processed foods (i.e. instant noodle, ready-to-eat meals, etc.) that contain high amount of sodium especially during the COVID-19 pandemic where the access to healthy food is limited. This dietary behavior of Thai consumer led to an increasing of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). WHO and Thai academic have been concerned about the situation and organize the press conference today with an objective to propose a stronger intervention to reduce sodium intake among Thai population.
Dr.Renu Garg (Acting WHO Representative to Thailand) mentioned about the situation of NCD related to high sodium consumption around the world and in the region. There is clear and conclusive evidence showing that excessive sodium consumption is harmful to health and leading to high blood pressure, heart attack, kidney disease and gastric cancer. Thai people consumed salt twice as much of the WHO recommendation which is less than 5 g of salt per day especially in children and youth. Due to an increasing incidence of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases around the world, the reduction of sodium consumption will decrease mortality and reduce economic burden in all countries. During COVID-19 pandemic, increasing consumption of fast food, snack, and processed food might associate with an increasing of NCDs. And people with underlying health conditions such as NCDs having a higher risk of severe diseases and death from COVID-19. There are several effective policies which will help to reduce sodium consumption, including ban advertisement, introduce front-of-package labeling, sodium tax, education and surveillance. Therefore, the situation of NCDs problems during COVID-19 pandemic should be mitigated by introducing stronger policies or interventions to control sodium consumption of general public.
Miss Sasipata Pha-Tep (Academics from Kidney Friends Association of Thailand) portrayed the significant problems among Thai kidney disease patients caused by excessive sodium consumption. During COVID-19 pandemic, kidney disease patients had limited choices of foods in which processed food, frozen food or ready-to-eat meal are among these limited choices. Moreover, these patients also had limited places to receive dialysis services as many dialysis units had been closed to prevent the spreading of COVID-19. A recent survey showed that the sodium content in processed packaged food available in the market are still high during this pandemic period, that caused concerns about the health of kidney disease patients who have limited choices of their diet.
Dr.Thaksaphon Thamarangsi Director of International Health Policy Program (IHPP), Ministry of Public Health) proposed that the situation of high sodium consumption in Thailand has always been critical and needs systematic actions to alleviate the problem: (1) reformulation of all high-sodium processed foods; (2) reduce sodium in school lunch food; (3) campaign against very salty foods; and (4) advocate for more effective front-of-package labelling. In Thailand, the government has implemented lightweight front-of-package labelling, including the Healthier Choice and monochrome GDA labelling. However, we need more effective strategies to inform consumer to make better decision to choose better choice easier such as traffic light GDA and warning labelling.
Dr.Renu totally agreed with Dr.Thaksaphon on imposing more effective interventions such as front-of-package warning labelling to help Thai people make a better decision to choose healthier processed food products.
Source: ไวสแบรนด์