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Obesity not necessarily caused by sweetened condensed milk: Nutritionist
Sweetened condensed milk still makes up a big portion of Indonesia’s milk consumption, and yet the public still has misinformed views about its sugar and milk content.
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Despite the essential nutrients it contains, including protein, fat and vitamins, milk consumption in Indonesia is still very low. (Shutterstock/File)
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here is no scientific evidence to indicate that the consumption of susu kental manis (sweetened condensed milk) is the cause of various health issues, such as obesity and diabetes, a nutritionist has stressed.
Achmad Syafiq, the chairman of University of Indonesia's Center for Nutrition and Health Studies, said low physical activity, low fiber intake and high total daily energy intake were the main causes of obesity, based on convincing evidence.
“So, it’s not just one type of food,” added Syafiq.
As reported by tempo.co, various studies showed that the cause of obesity in school-age children is not high-risk food consumption (sugar, salt, fat, preservatives), but instead a lack of physical activity.
The 2018 Basic Health Survey (Riskesdas) noted that based on blood sugar tests, there had been a rise in diabetes mellitus patients from 6.9 percent to 8.5 percent of the population. This is considered to have been caused by bad lifestyle habits such as smoking, consumption of alcohol and a lack of physical activity and insufficient consumption of fruits and vegetables.
Read also: Diabetes, obesity lurk behind condensed milk
Despite the essential nutrients it contains, including protein, fat and vitamins, milk consumption in Indonesia is still very low. Statistics Indonesia (BPS) recorded a consumption rate of 16.5 liters per capita per year in 2016, far lower than other ASEAN nations, such as Malaysia (50.9 liters), Thailand (33.7 liters) and the Philippines (22.1 liters).
Sweetened condensed milk still makes up a big portion of Indonesia’s milk consumption, and yet the public still has misinformed views about its sugar and milk content.
To rectify this, the head of the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) issued regulation No. 31/2018 on processed food labels, which requires warnings such as “Attention! Not to be used as a breast milk substitute; not suitable for babies until 12 months of age; and cannot be used as the only source of nutrients” to be displayed on sweetened condensed milk product labels. (iru/kes)
