Diet Misunderstanding Harmful To Practitioners

KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 (Bernama) -- Misunderstanding has been the norm among Malaysians, over the true interpretation of what diet actually means. This has resulted in unhealthy eating disorders among those going on diet, as they follow prescribed versions of diets which could eventually prove to be ineffective and harmful. In this context, Swiss-Concept Sdn Bhd dietician Mushidah Zakiah Mohad Akran said it was vital to take every meal daily and regularly. "Skipping meals and starving oneself reduces a person's metabolic rate and influences how much food is required, and the capability to obtain it. "If you don't take anything, the body will send a signal to the brain, saying it is on a starving mode, so it (metabolic rate) will have to slow down," she told reporters at a cooking demonstration at the Prince Court Medical Centre here Saturday. In conjunction with March being declared as the Nutrition Month, the medical centre has embarked on a mission to educate parents, especially mothers, on how to cook balanced nutritional food for children at home and discourage fast food eating habits to combat obesity and overweight among children. Meanwhile, the medical centre's head of lifestyle modification, Farah Diba Khan, said substituting certain foods for dieting should be done properly and it should be replaced by healthier food. -- BERNAMA