Kempem Pemakanan Seimbang Diet Seimbang bermula dari Sarapan

This past January, while everyone was busy preparing for the Lunar New Year, I received an unexpected phone call from Sin Chew Daily. This call not only filled up my schedule but also kicked off a challenging yet meaningful journey—an invitation to partner with a magician to complete a tour of 22 "School Nutrition Magic Shows."

At that moment, I felt a mix of excitement and anxiety. I was excited because it was such a novel way to spread nutrition knowledge to children, but anxious because time was tight. Consequently, during the Lunar New Year—a time usually meant for feasting and fun—my fellow dietitians and I didn't rest.

Instead, we sat together, racking our brains to "squeeze out" the scripts. We scrutinized every line, pondering how to seamlessly weave dry facts about carbohydrates and proteins into the magician's wondrous illusions. We didn't want to present a preachy lecture; we wanted a creative learning drama that would make the students gasp in amazement while subconsciously absorbing healthy eating habits.

Looking back on these 22 performances, my heart is filled with gratitude. I must especially thank my company—Nets Group—for their meticulous planning and comprehensive arrangements. It was because of this strong backing that I could fight side-by-side with my like-minded dietitian colleagues, turning words on paper into vivid performances on stage. Every time I saw the children's eyes widen with curiosity and heard their cheers erupting from a successful magic trick, I knew that the "seed of nutrition" had been planted in their hearts.

However, behind the laughter, as a Nutritionist, my heart was not entirely at ease.

Through this tour and long-term observation, I have noticed a worrying phenomenon: children with a healthy weight seem to be becoming a minority. Our schools are witnessing a trend of polarization—some children are stunted and frail due to unbalanced nutrition, while even more are plagued by obesity.

This is not merely an issue of physical aesthetics; it is a hidden danger for the future. Nutritional status directly affects brain development and physical function. Children facing obesity or stunted growth often suffer from reduced concentration and learning abilities. Even more frightening is that this nutritional imbalance in childhood significantly increases their risk of developing chronic diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, in adulthood.

This leads to a broader societal issue. Malaysia is world-renowned as a "Food Paradise," a title we take pride in; simultaneously, we have prided ourselves on our affordable and accessible public healthcare system. However, this "safety net" is facing unprecedented tests.

This was the very intention behind our tireless efforts across these 22 schools. In today's precarious healthcare climate, nutrition education is no longer an optional extracurricular supplement but a mandatory subject for every citizen. Teaching children how to choose food, how to refuse junk food, and how to manage their health is, in reality, teaching them how to master their own destiny and build the strongest line of defense for themselves in an era of increasingly scarce medical resources.

Although the tour has ended, the road to promoting nutrition education is still long. May every wave of our "magic wand" light up a healthy future for a child.