LETTER | Help women in lower-income group live healthy amidst pandemic

LETTER | ‘Leave no one behind’. That is our promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development Goals and our government has been working hard to decrease the inequalities and vulnerabilities that leave people behind.

Unfortunately, we still have a significant number of people, mainly from the lower-income group, struggling to achieve socioeconomic and health equality. Socio-economic problems, and health and food insecurity are reported to be the main problems among the low-income group and amidst the pandemic, women and children, especially from the lower-income group who are the most negatively affected, require urgent attention.

Non-communicable diseases and malnutrition are some of the few health threats reported among women from the B40 group and these problems seem to be persistent among them. Studies have reported that the impact of diabetes is greater in females than in males with a worse outcome. Women with diabetes have a higher risk of heart diseases and earlier incidents of heart attack which can be fatal when compared to men.

Healthy habits are the most effective way to combat them, but, sadly, in the chaos of a woman's daily life, healthy living may take the back seat to chores, work, busy schedules, and more. To make matters worse, with the rising number of cases and the implementation of the movement control order again, these already vulnerable groups, are facing another period of social and economic uncertainties.

Why are we targetting women? Simply because women are responsible for producing and preparing food for their family and household; therefore, their knowledge or lack of it can create issues not only on women’s own health but also on the health of the family members.

 Ensuring the correct nutritional status is vital, especially now when we need our immune system to fight the disease.

Healthy habit is a combination of healthy eating, being physically active, avoiding smoking and limiting alcohol consumption. For more information, we suggest you see your physician and the dietitian. Some steps to overcome the barriers women face to live healthily include:

• Emphasising on our ‘Malaysia Healthy Eating Plate' via social media and other platforms to disseminate information - consisting of 1⁄4 plates of grains or grain products, preferably whole grains such as brown rice or whole meal bread, ¼ plate of fish, poultry, meat or egg and 1/2 plate of vegetables with a portion of fruit.
• Regular visit to the health education and health promotion website on what to eat or healthy meal options by the Ministry of Health and NGOs.
• Encouraging family members, husbands, and older children to help with the house chores so that mothers will have time to prepare healthy meals.
• Encouraging family members to create a supportive social environment for the women in the house and practise having the meal together in contrast to our custom where they will be the last to eat.
• Increasing intake of plain water, fiber, sugar-free green tea, and coffee.
• Educating our women to read the label when purchasing ready-to-eat or ready-to-cook food, and, to make healthy choices when purchasing online.
• A minimum of 30 minutes of regular, moderate-intensity activity three to five times per week with other members of the house (use online platform like YouTube to find suitable exercises to do at home).
• Home gardening with their children.
• Encouraging health-seeking behaviour and seek help when needed.

Adequate knowledge on healthy lifestyle is important for women not only because it helps them to be productive members of society but also because of the direct effect on their family members and the next generation.

Our low-income families are at risk of poor nutrition and unhealthy lifestyle with the ongoing lockdown; therefore, empowering and educating them can create an environment that benefits everyone.

Nothing must be done separately; make healthy choices for the whole family. In addition, do not be afraid to seek help if it is needed. This lockdown will leave some impact on our community and all these efforts will have a greater health impact if it comes from us ourselves.

DR KALAASHINI RAMACHANDRAN is with the Department of Public Health University of Malaya Medical Council and DR HAZREEN ABDUL MAJID is Head of Centre for Population Health, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Universiti Malaya.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.