PRESS RELEASE
Manila, Philippines 26 September
2012 – Pfizer launched
today the Centrum Nutri Coach, an easily accessible on-line tool that will allow
Filipinos to keep track of the nutrients they get from what they eat on a daily
basis.
The Centrum Nutri Coach is the first
on-line nutrition tracker of its kind tailor-fit to the Filipino lifestyle and
diet.
“Good
health and nutrition is really
all about eating a variety of food in the right amounts, as prescribed in the
Food Pyramid. We usually count calories and fat, but we also need to consider
vitamins and minerals, too,’’ said Joy Ong, Pfizer Brand Manager for
Centrum.
An
innovative on-line tool, the Centrum Nutri Coach allows you to input exactly
what you ate from a variety of food choices that include Filipino favorites
like inihaw na pork chop and halo halo into a “virtual” plate. It
also takes into consideration other traditional components of health and
nutrition like level of physical activity and age. All this information will then be used to
compute for your general state of nutrition and give you tips on how to improve
your nutritional habits.
The launch of the Centrum Nutri
Coach comes on the heels of the research study done by the Food and Nutrition
Research Instiute (FNRI) which showed that an alarming 70% of Filipino households
don’t get the prescribed amount of most vitamins and minerals they need.
“What we see now is the “double burden
of disease”; there is an upsurge in non-communicable disease risk factors like
obesity and overweight, in addition to the existing issues of infectious
diseases and undernutrition,” said Professor Liezl Atienza from the Institution of Human Nutrition and
Food, College of Human Ecology at the University of the Philippines, Los Banos.
According to Atienza, the “double burden of
disease” is common among
many low and middle-income countries, and particularly in urban settings.
Another rising form of malnutrition is “hidden hunger”, which is a deficiency
or total lack of specific nutrients needed by the body.
Unhealthy
eating habits such a low consumption of fruits and vegetables and high increase in consumption of meat and meat
products, coupled with a sedentary lifestyle all contribute to this.
“We
hope that with the launch of the Centrum Nutri Coach, we can make nutrition not
just easy and accessible to everyone, but also fun. Now that we, for the first
time, can actually have a hand in keeping track of our food intake, we can
choose to be healthy,” said
Ong.
NUTRITION FACTS AND TRENDS
The latest
nutritional study, Philippine Nutrition
Facts and Figures 2008 done by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute -- DOST
showed that 70% of Filipino households
don’t get the right amount of most vitamins and minerals.
However,
alongside this is the finding that there is an increase in incidence of obesity
and being overweight.
Poor eating
habits and a sedentary lifestyle contribute to Filipinos not getting the
vitamins and minerals they need and have led to what is known as the “double
burden of disease”: there is an upsurge in non-communicable disease risk
factors like obesity and overweight, in addition to the existing issues of
infectious diseases and undernutrition.
Filipinos are eating less and less vegetables. Based on food consumption surveys, Filipinos
on average are eating less and less vegetables per day in the last three
decades. From 145 grams per day of
vegetables in 1978, consumption has decreased to 110 grams per day in 2008.
Low fruits and vegetable consumption leads to deficiencies
in intakes of calcium, iron, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and vitamins folic acid, Vitamins A , C and E.
[Source: Presentation
of Professor Liezl Atienza, University of the Philippines Los Banos]
The World Health Organization recommends eating a minimum of
400 grams of vegetables and fruits per day which is equivalent to 5 servings
per day with 3 servings of vegetables per day.
The WHO recommends this amount for the prevention of non-communicable
diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity, as well as for
the prevention and alleviation of several micronutrient deficiencies,
especially in less developed countries.
[Source: World Health
Organization: Measuring Intake of Fruits and Vegetables
OBESITY
STATISTICS:
- More than 1.4 billion adults, 20 and older, were overweight.
- Of these overweight adults, over 200 million men and nearly 300 million women were obese. Overall, more than one in ten of the world’s adult population was obese.
- Overweight and obesity are the fifth leading risk for global deaths. At least 2.8 million adults die each year as a result of being overweight or obese.
- In addition, 44% of the diabetes burden, 23% of the ischaemic heart disease burden and between 7% and 41% of certain cancer burdens are attributable to overweight and obesity.
- An increased intake of energy-dense foods that are high in fat, salt and sugars but low in vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients; and
- A decrease in physical activity due to the increasingly sedentary nature of many forms of work, changing modes of transportation, and increasing urbanization
World Health Organization:
Obesity and Overweight Face Sheet
•
Checking for obesity: There are
two ways to check for obesity:
• Body Mass Index or (BMI) is a measure for
obesity:
• BMI greater than or equal to:
25 is overweight
30 is obesity
World Health Organization: Obesity and Overweight Face Sheet
·
Waistline measurement
is an indicator of abdominal obesity
More than 90
cm (35 inches) for men
More than 80
cm (31 inches) for women
Source: The
Asia Pacific Perspective: Redefining obesity and its treatment. World Health
Organization. International associaton for the study of obesity and
International obesity task force. International Diabetes Institute, Melbourne:
World Health Organization, Western Pacific Region; 2000.
MICRONUTRIENT
DEFICIENCY
- Also known as “hidden hunger”
- Deficiency or absolute lack of a specific nutrient caused by inadequate intake of food or illness
[Source: Presentation of Professor Liezl Atienza, UP Los Banos]
What is the Centrum Nutri Coach?
The Centrum
Nutri Coach is an on-line tool that will allow Filipinos to keep track of the
nutrients they get from what they eat .
How is it the first of its kind? How is it
specifically made for Filipinos?
The Centrum
Nutri Coach is the first on-line nutrition tool in the Philippines that takes
the Filipino diet into consideration. So in the menu of food choices, you will
see halo-halo, inihaw na liempo,
kare-kare and other Filipino favorites.
It is the only nutrition assessment tool that is based on the Food
Composition Table of the Food and Nutrition Table of FNRI (Food and Nutrition
Research Institute of the Philippines).
The Centrum Nutrition Coach will show you how near / far you are from
the daily recommended daily intake of each nutrient.
How does it work?
You will be
asked to input factors like your age, weight and level of physical activity
into the Nutri Coach website. These factors are important in gauging how much
you [word missing: is this vitamins and minerals?] need.
Then from a
menu of different Filipino foods, you will choose what you ate for breakfast,
lunch and dinner—and of course merienda. The system will automatically
compute the nutrients you are getting
from your food choices and will show you your gap versus the recommended daily
intake for Filipinos.
It will
even propose a sample meal plan for you to follow so you can get enough of the
vitamins and minerals you lack with your current diet.
What are the food servings used for the food
choices in the Centrum Nutri Coach menu?
Food servings
vary per food type. For instance, pizza
serving is 1 slice, butter is 1 teaspoon,
while coffee is 1 cup. The usual
food serving as noted by the nutritionists were used as a guide. Serving details per food item are specified
in the nutri coach.
How can I access the Centrum Nutri Coach?
You can
access the Centrum Nutri-Coach through the Centrum Website at
www.centrum.com.ph.
Can I access the Centrum Nutri Coach via a
smart phone/mobile device?
Yes you can
access the Centrum Nutri Coach via a mobile device/smart phone. However the
current configuration is formatted for a standard web browser.
Is the Centrum Nutri Coach available for
download via mobile app?
Currently,
the Centrum Nutri Coach is only available online.
What is the basis of the computation of the vitamins
and minerals?
Centrum
worked with nutritionists to compute for the vitamins and minerals per food
item. The reference used was the Food
Composition Table shared by FNRI (Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the
Philippines).
What can I see in the results page?
Centrum
Nutri Coach will show you the nutrients you get from your food choices and if
you are getting the right level of nutrients base on the daily Recommended
Energy and Nutrient Intake. Other
information you’ll get are your BMI, calorie consumption plus your ideal
weight, height and BMI. A sample diet
will also be provided in the results page.
Can I print or share my results page?
Yes, your
results page can be printed or shared on Facebook.
Can Centrum Nutri Coach save my profile so I
can have a diary of my food intake?
At the
moment, we do not have this feature in the website, but this may be considered
for the future phases.
Can the Centrum Nutri Coach be used if I am
pregnant?
Yes, the
Centrum Nutri Coach considers your age, height, weight, gender, activity level and health condition which
includes women who are pregnant.
Can the Centrum Nutri Coach be used for
children?
Centrum
Nutri Coach is currently design for adults ages 19 and up.
What is the level of involvement of FNRI on
this project?
Centrum
consulted with FNRI, which shared with us the Food Composition Table. This document served as the basis of our
partner nutritionists in computing for the nutrient content of the food items
in the Centrum Nutri-Coach.
Is the Centrum Nutri Coach user friendly?
The Centrum
Nutri Coach was designed to make it easy for users to navigate. Users have the option to choose pre-set
meals that fit their usual food intake if they don’t want to use the customize
option where they can choose the actual food items that they usually eat. Various types of eating habits were
captured in the Pre-set meals such as
High Fiber, High Calorie, Low Calorie, High Carbohydrate, Low Protein,
Low Carbohydrate or High Protein.
ABOUT CENTRUM
A product of Pfizer, Centrum is the world’s number one
multivitamin-mineral brand. It is
specially formulated and balanced with 30
vitamins and minerals. It’s formula is complete with Vitamins A to Zinc
to help fill in the nutritional gaps on those days when one eats too little,
thus helping an individual reach his recommended intake of certain nutrients
that are difficult to get from food
alone.
Simply put, daily intake of a multivitamin-mineral supplement like
Centrum helps ensure that one is at his best every day.
Centrum offers several types of multivitamin supplements that are
suitable to an adult’s age group. Centrum for adults below 50 years old while
Centrum Silver is apt for those who are 50 years old and above. By keeping up with the latest research on health & nutrition, living a healthy lifestyle, eating a proper diet, plus a daily dose of a multivitamin supplement like Centrum, we can perform at our peak whether at work or at play. A complete multivitamin
is a great addition to an already healthy diet.
Take one today.
