SINGAPORE: To
discourage party-goers from binge drinking, the Health Promotion Board
(HPB) plans to work with all major clubs in Singapore and popular
nightclub Zirca is the first on board.
In 2010, the National
Health Survey showed that one per cent of young Singaporeans, between 18
and 29 years old, drink alcohol regularly.
Of these, 16 per cent are binge drinkers. For men, that's having at least five glasses of wine a night and for women, four.
A
final year student at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Geraldine Lam, said:
"Sometimes after we finish an exam or something, we wanna celebrate, we
do out and party. I think in a group, there will always be some people
that binge drink and then lose control.
"Because when you're
binge drinking you look like you're having a lot of fun, because you're
less inhibited, you tend to be friendlier with people, maybe that's why
it's seen as a cool activity."
But the HPB warns that binge
drinking can lead to long-term health problems such as liver disease,
brain damage and stomach ulcers.
HPB is already working with TMS Academy that currently offers bartending courses to include a module on Responsible Hospitality.
At partnering clubs like Zirca, about 50 service staff have already been trained in responsible hospitality.
And the HPB aims to have more joining their ranks.
HPB's
CEO Ang Hak Seng said: "Our study has shown that interactions between
the bartender with our young adult customers actually will influence how
much alcohol they will drink. We're educating the bartender to identify
early symptoms of intoxication and for those who are drunk, how to say
no in serving them more alcohol, instead, substitute it with
non-alcoholic beverages."
Zirca's CEO Bernard Lim said:
"Sometimes it's not just about sales, not just about dollars and cents,
we want to be mindful of the safety of the people in the club, the
well-being of our patrons as well, we don't want to have many drunk
people around, we don't want to carry people out of the club."
The trick is to set yourself a limit.
At the launch of the campaign, MediaCorp artistes - Joanne Peh and Pornsak Prajakwit - tried their hands in mixing mocktails.
To reinforce the message of going easy on the drinks, there were reminders in addition to breathalyzers.
Partnering
with more clubs in Singapore, the HPB hopes to spread the message among
the youths that you can "live it up without drinking up".
SINGAPORE: Marine
Parade now has its own Healthier Hawker Centre, launched on Sunday
morning by Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.
Marine Parade
has a higher proportion of elderly residents, and with the launch of the
Healthier Hawker Centre in Marine Terrace, they need not travel far for
healthier versions of their favourite hawker fare.
All stalls at this food centre have switched to oil which has lower saturated fat.
Seven of the stalls have also started to use healthier salt, brown rice or wholegrain noodles.
This is the fifth hawker centre under the Health Promotion Board's Healthier Hawker Centre initiative.
A
study by HPB showed that about 80 per cent of senior citizens in the
Marine Parade constituency have at least one chronic disease.
The board hopes to help the elderly improve their health by providing them with healthier choices.
By 2013, the HPB hopes to have more hawkers on board with at least 50 healthy hawker centres across the island.
Ang
Hak Seng, CEO of the Health Promotion Board, said: "Through our network
of suppliers, (hawkers) are able to buy healthy ingredients at the same
price as normal (ones).
"Our study also showed that a very high
percentage of Singaporeans, close to 90 per cent of Singaporeans, are
aware of the importance of eating healthy food. What's important is to
create the choice so that they can eat healthy food."
SINGAPORE: Women
below 40 years old need to beware of unhealthy lifestyle issues such as
obesity, binge drinking and smoking while older women should be mindful
of the need for screening for illnesses such as breast and cervical
cancers.
These are the findings by the Health Promotion Board
(HPB) together with the newly-formed Women's Health Advisory Committee
(WHAC).
And more is being done to raise awareness of these health issues among women.
According to the HPB, 40 per cent of Singaporean women aged 50 to 69 years old undergo regular breast cancer screening.
In Finland, the rate is 84 per cent.
And
Minister of State for Health and Manpower, Dr Amy Khor, said that women
must make the effort to remain healthy and happy as they play multiple
roles and have a longer life expectancy.
"They live longer and it
is important for women to take care of their health and adopt good
health habits early, so that they do not just live long, but they live
well, have a good quality of life, and have peace of mind. Having a
healthy lifestyle, regular exercise, healthy eating habits and regular
health screenings, will (help women to) avoid or delay the onset of
chronic disease," she said.
According to the Department of Statistics, life expectancy for women is 84.3 years while it is 79.6 for men.
So the Women's Health Advisory Committee will champion women's health.
The committee comprises 14 women leaders and will assist the HPB in refining its health programmes for women.
Ang
Hak Seng, CEO of the Health Promotion Board, said: "Many of the ideas
are bottom up. It's no longer HPB providing or thinking that this is the
solution that is best for women's health. Instead, the solution comes
from the women's group themselves.
"And that is why the
composition of the Women's Health Advisory Committee is so important.
It's deliberately chosen so that we can reach out to the people sector,
in this case the community, the public sector, government departments so
that government operates as one, and also private sectors.
"Because
private sector also has resources that we can tap on so that we can
encourage and build a community whereby we can have better health for
the women," he said.
A comprehensive women's health booklet titled "My Journey to Better Health" was also launched.
HPB
aims to distribute 30,000 copies of the booklet by November in a tie up
with women's magazines. The booklet is also available online at www.inspiringwomen.sg.
The
committee is working with HPB to prepare a Women's Health Plan that
will highlight key areas in health promotion programmes for women across
their lifespan.
It will also work with organisations and
community groups to form a Women's Network to roll out accessible and
affordable women's health programmes at workplaces and in the community.
SINGAPORE: The
Health Promotion Board (HPB) on Sunday released the findings of a study
involving 1,200 seniors, which showed that those who participated in the
National Brisk Walking Programme were, on average, eight per cent
fitter than their peers.
The HPB also revealed that it is coming up with a reward system for seniors who spend at least 100 minutes a week brisk walking.
These
seniors will be assessed every six months and could qualify for yearly
awards. Those who achieve at least 200 minutes of brisk walking a week
will attain the gold award, while those who brisk walk for at least 150
and 100 minutes will get the silver and bronze awards respectively.
The awards come with certificates and vouchers that can be used to buy healthy food.
The
rewards will be offered to 100,000 constituents in the 700
brisk-walking clubs here and will progressively be rolled out
islandwide, said HPB chief executive officer Ang Hak Seng.
"The
reward is not about giving them something ... but about (providing) them
a sense of accomplishment," Mr Ang said, adding that more details will
be announced later.
To mark the third anniversary of the National Brisk Walking Programme, 10,000 residents took part in brisk-walking
sessions across the island.
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, who was
at one of the sessions, noted that exercise such as brisk walking is
increasingly important to cope with the challenges of an ageing
population.
"One of the key strategies to address this challenge
is to encourage Singaporeans to live well and stay active, healthy and
engaged. For this reason, the brisk-walking club is a very important
part of this strategy.
"Through brisk walking, Singaporeans can
work out together (and) stay healthy," said Mr Gan, who shared that he
brisk walks up to twice a day on weekends.
North-West District
Mayor Teo Ho Pin, who chairs the National Brisk Walking Workgroup, said
there are plans to reach out further to minorities such as Indians and
Malays, as not many have joined the groups.
To encourage greater
participation among all Singaporeans, Mr Ang said "bite-sized"
brisk-walking exercises will be introduced during community events.
The
South-West Community Development Council (CDC) will start a pilot for
such exercises, which will be rolled out by other CDCs over the next
three years.
Brisk-walking events with special themes - such as
paranormal walks and speed-dating walks - will also be held between July
and August, Mr Ang added.
