KUALA LUMPUR: Every individual can play a role in helping the environment by becoming a vegetarian, said Berjaya Corp Bhd founder and executive chairman Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun.
In his keynote speech at the Second Malaysian Lifestyle Medicine Conference held at Berjaya Times Square Hotel, he noted that 94% of Malaysians do not consume enough fruits and vegetables as part of their daily diet.
He pointed to the Health Ministry’s Malaysian Dietary Guidelines that recommended at least two servings of fruits and three servings of vegetables each day.
He added that a change in diet, which includes adding more greens in a child’s meal, is also a parent’s responsibility.
“Parents should start encouraging their children to eat more vegetables, which will benefit them in decades to come. Eating regular portions of vegetables will go towards developing a strong and healthy body to fight against non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Our bodies and minds must be in great working condition to take us to our desired destination, which is to be healthy.”
Tan said it was not easy replacing meat and seafood with plant-based or vegetarian options when he initially decided on becoming a vegetarian.
“It was difficult in a sense that (non-plant-based food) looked tempting and nice.
“But I got used to it six months later and now I can’t take in the smell of meat or sea creatures, especially prawns,” he said.
Tan added that Lifestyle Medicine (LM) is an interesting and emerging medical speciality that is worth exploring, especially in tackling NCDs.
The two-day conference, themed “Lifestyle Medicine: A Prescription for Chronic Diseases”, ends today and discusses how LM intervention can help meet the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development and reduce the rate of premature mortality from NCDs by a third by 2030 through prevention and treatment.
Also present was Malaysian Society of Lifestyle Medicine founder Dr Sivaneswaran Poobalasingam.
Earlier in his speech, Sivaneswaran said up to 80% of chronic diseases can be prevented and treated through LM therapeutic intervention, which is an emerging healthcare discipline.
He said it was time to have a game plan to stem the NCD epidemic sweeping the world.
“We know that poor nutrition, a sedentary lifestyle, stress, smoking, absence of social connectivity and lack of restorative sleep are the pathogenesis of chronic diseases,” he said and called on the medical fraternity to pursue an LM certification to equip themselves to combat NCDs.
