International Women's Day 2020 with Mondelēz International Malaysia

International Women's Day is an annual event falls on 8 March, which is a focal point in the movement for women's rights. I normally celebrate this wonderful day with my mother and sister.

This year, I had a wonderful time celebrated International Women's Day with Mondelēz International (Malaysia) - the nation’s Favourite Snacking Company and global snacking power house. Mondelēz International (Malaysia) hosted various activities to educate and promote a healthy balanced diet for women at their head office at Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya on the lovely morning.

As a Company that aims to empower people to snack right, this vision translates to its winning growth culture. All around the world, the people of Mondelēz International are passionate about providing the right snack, for the right moment, made the right way. Empowering its people to accomplish this begins inside, with a focus on diversity and inclusion. They believe that diversity must be more than just about gender. It’s about respect and the appreciation of diversity of culture, experience, and ideas.

Raja Zalina Raja Safran; Head, Corporate & Government Affairs, Mondelēz International Malaysia & Singapore

“Mondelēz International (Malaysia) concerns about healthy eating responsibility for women and your wellbeing. As women, we are also mom, we take care of our kids, we have work and we have to perform at work. Hence, a healthy eating is important to maintain your health, feel good, and have energy. We have organized an educational session with the Ministry of Health (MOH) called Health Eating Responsibilities (HER), which is MOH’s recently introduced initiative and overall nutrition advocacy for women which covers topics around healthy eating and its benefits to guide women towards a healthier, nutritious life with Mondelēz Malaysia being the first company in the country to organise this talk.” said Raja Zalina Raja Safran; Head, Corporate & Government Affairs, Mondelēz International Malaysia & Singapore in her opening speech.

Pn. Nurul Zaiza, Senior Assistant Director, Nutrition Division, Ministry Of Health

The event followed with a Health Eating Responsibilities (HER) and nutrition talk by Pn. Nurul Zaiza, Senior Assistant Director, Nutrition Division, Ministry Of Health. Health Eating Responsibilities (HER) initiatives is to empower women to take care of themselves first starting with eating balance, moderate and variety of nutrient rich food everyday as one of the key to be healthy.

As a nutritionist, Pn. Nurul Zaiza advice us women to always take care of ourselves first by eating right. Daily eating habits not only affect your weight, but can also affect your work productivity, fitness level, energy, focus, even your appearance and many other unforeseen health problem.

Pn. Nurul Zaiza asked us do we think our Malaysian women healthy? The answer is 48.9% women 18 years old and above are overweight and obese (NHMS 2015) and 1 out of 3 pregnant women were Anemic (NHMS 2016). It's a alarming figures and hence we Malaysian women should really take care of our daily dietation.

In fact, we women go through a different life stages from born to grow old. What we eat contribute to our body hence it is important to eat healthily on different stages. For example, we should prepare our body before we start trying to conceive; and prepare for menopause at the older age.

One way is to make sure the Micro-nutrients storage in our body is sufficient. Micro-nutrients are trace elements such as vitamins and minerals that stored in our body over time. For example, iron storage in our body, whether is it normal, low or anemia. Fortunately, micro-nutrients can be obtain from food.

However, the trend now is that we are eating more simple carbohydrate, sugar and fat everyday which is unhealthy. We should try to avoid coffee, team, milk tea, nasi lemak, roti canai, burger, hipster or viral unhealthy food.

On the other hand, we should consume more Iron rich food, Calcium rich food, Iodine and Folate rich food (B9). Especially Iodine which is important for women. Low Iodine may cause Baby IQ get affected or postpartum disorder.

Last but not least, Pn. Nurul Zaiza shared 6 tips of healthy lifestyle for women below;

1. Practise #sukusukuseparuh.
2. Plan your pregnancy.
3. Stop smoking.
4. Try to achieve optimum weight for your height.
5. Do physical activity everyday.
6. Manage your stress.

James Kane, Managing Director of Mondelēz Malaysia presented token of appreciation to Pn Nurul Zaiza, Senior Assistant Director, Nutrition Division, Ministry Of Health.

After listening to the insightful talk, we proceeded to a free Health Screening by Kelana Jaya Medical Centre.

As a conclusion, women across generations should pick their food and drink every day because it affect your health now and later in life. Choosing healthy foods and drinks more often can help prevent or manage many health problems that affect women. By being healthy, women can be more confident, look after their loved one better and at the same time can be more productive at the workplace. Let's start a healthy balanced diet from now onward.

For more information about Mondelēz International Malaysia, visit https://my.mondelezinternational.com/.