PUTRAJAYA: A daily intake of 500 kilocalorie (kcal) will translate into an increase in body weight of between 500gm and 1kg a week, Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai
said.
He said that to burn the 500 kcal, an adult man would have to cycle for nearly an hour or walk for two hours and 30 minutes.
“It’s therefore easy to reduce the calorie intake by consuming less food, than burning the calorie afterwards,” he told a news conference on healthy eating in conjunction with the Chinese New Year, here yesterday.
He said for the Chinese community, the new year would normally start with a family dinner, with meals comprising fish, chicken, duck, bak kwa and Mandarin oranges, and yee sang and sweetened snacks during daytime.
The intake of these types of food could cause an increase in body weight and expose a person to obesity and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, he said.
He advised the public to practise healthy eating, exercise regularly and to adhere to the ‘88888’ formula or eat until 80 per cent full, before 8pm, drink eight glasses of water a day, sleep eight hours a day and walk at least 8,000 steps a
day.
“Remember to practise this everyday, not just during the Chinese New Year,” he said, adding that the public can also refer to the book on healthy eating during the Chinese New Year which can be downloaded from the ministry’s website. — Bernama