Public health ministry urges Thai to eat more fruit, vegetable

BANGKOK, Jan 23 (TNA) - The Public Health Ministry declared the year 2017 as the year of safe fruit and vegetable consumption to encourage Thai people to consume more fruit and vegetable to prevent Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). Public Health Minister Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn said the ministry advised Thai people to eat 400 grammes of fruit daily as suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO) to prevent non-communicable diseases such as cancers and Ischemic stroke. According to a survey, only one fourths of Thai children aged above 15 years old properly eat fruit and vegetable, he said. Meanwhile, the ministry also promotes safe fruit and vegetable production, so it has also worked with the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to control chemical use in growing fruit and vegetable. All hospitals under the public health ministry administration are set to start using organic vegetable as ingredients in cooking food for patients in June. (TNA)