By Nurdiyanah Izzati & Ummie ‘Afina ‘Awatif
The Entrepreneurship & Food Tourism and Health & Wellness Divisions under the Malay Food Heritage Branding Flagship (MFHB) in collaboration with the Departments of Tourism and Arabic Language have invited Mrs. Faten Kama on Thursday, 23rd November 2023 to give a sharing on how we can consume our beloved Malay cuisine in a more nutritious way. The honorable dietitian and clinical instructor from University Putra Malaysia (UPM), specializing in medical nutrition therapy, weight management, obesity, and non-communicable disease equipped the audiences with valuable information regarding the healthy diet.
The main purpose of initiating this programme is to raise awareness among students, staff and the public about the importance of knowing the nutrition Malay foods we consume daily and to know how to appreciate and assess health when consuming daily meals. As of now, Malaysia owns one of the world’s highest rates of obesity and diabetes. Multiple factors are contributing to this, but our daily food intake is a crucial one.
This programme meets several SDGs; SDG 4 (Quality Education) where the audiencegain knowledge and awareness on the nutrition in Malay Food consumed in daily meals. They learn about the nutrition information in the ingredients and how to calculate the calories, so that they can eat a healthy Malay dish full of needed nutrition. SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being). The programme includes the collaboration of two higher institutions: IIUM and UPM also with health industry UPM and Serdang Hospitals SDG 17 (Partnership for the Goals). All are cooperating in achieving one goal which is good health and well-being.