At the Communication workshop on Providing proactive health care knowledge for women in Thai Nguyen province organized by the Central Center for Healthcare - Communication Education under the Ministry of Health (T5G) in coordination with Thai Nguyen Central Hospital, Thai Nguyen Provincial Women's Union and Vietnam Beer - Alcohol - Beverage Association (VBA), Mr. Vu Manh Cuong, Director of T5G Center said: "When women know how to proactively take care of their health, it is not only an act for themselves, but also a first step for a healthy family and a happy society. Proactive health care is not an option, but a right and responsibility of every woman in the new era".
MSc. Nguyen Thanh Hong - an expert from T5G provided practical instructions on how to read food and beverage labels.
The ingredients of the product, the origin, whether there are many or few additives... are important information to understand factors that can pose a health risk (containing substances that cause self-altering, containing genetic modification ingredients or having been chieued etc.). The label of food products and drinks must be labelled with nutrition.
Ms. Hong has provided detailed instructions on how to read the nutritional information on the product label such as where the energy value comes from, whether there is much salt or not, whether there is good or bad fat, how many mineral vitamins are provided compared to the daily nutritional needs recommended for Vietnamese people.
She also noted the sugar content in soft drink products and the alcohol concentration in alcohol products.
To avoid abusing the Alcohol Unit, equivalent to 10 grams of pure alcohol (Ethanol) contained in alcohol and beer products, a unit of measurement to convert alcohol and other alcoholic beverages to the amount of pure alcohol shared with an easy-to-understand example equivalent to 3/4 bottle/can of 330ml beer (55% alcohol); a cup of 330ml draft beer (4% alcohol), a small glass of 100ml wine (13.5% alcohol), a small cup of 40ml strong wine (30% alcohol).
Ms. Hong said that to change alcohol abuse behavior, it is necessary to improve consumer awareness education.
If you drink, you should not abuse alcohol, you should drink it down to no more than two units of alcohol/day for men and one unit of alcohol/day for women and do not drink it for more than 5 days/week, you should stop or reduce your alcohol consumption to prevent and minimize health risks for yourself.
In case of drinking, avoid overusing alcohol and beer, drink less than two units of alcohol/day for men and one unit of alcohol/day for women and do not drink more than 5 days/week. Absolutely do not drink alcohol while driving, pregnant women, people with underlying diseases, do not drink at certain locations according to the law...
According to Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Viet, Chairman of VBA Association, the beverage industry with products associated with people's daily lives, on the one hand brings cultural values, cuisine, and joy to everyone, but on the other hand, a lack of understanding of products, especially products containing alcohol such as alcohol, beer, containing a lot of sugar, abuse when using, and irresponsible consumption can lead to harmful effects on one's health and put pressure on the health system with related burdens of diseases.
VBA Association and businesses have been implementing many initiatives and communication programs to educate the community about balanced nutrition and physical exercise - especially for children, women and workers. This is not a short-term activity, but a long-term commitment to reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases and build a healthier future.
In addition to health, we also aim to improve the quality of life from alcoholic beverages such as alcohol, beer, research to create more low-alcoholic, non-alcoholic products or soft drinks with added minerals, health support, sugar reduction... consumers can easily choose better products while still maintaining their consumption habits and favorite flavors.
