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In healthy living, every small step counts. And healthy eating is about eating smart. Think brown rice instead of white rice. Using healthier oils, drinking water or unsweetened teas instead of carbonated sodas. All these small healthy options add up and you’ll feel better for it.
Over the weekends, I went to Healthy Lifestyle Festival SG, organized by Health Promotion Board (HPB), and gained a better understand of how to eat healthier and smarter.
The past month of October saw a series of Healthy Lifestyle Festival SG roadshows in the heartlands island wide. This weekend, 7 and 8 November, will mark the culmination of Healthy Lifestyle Festival SG at the anchor event at the Singapore Sports Hub and Kallang Wave Mall. It will be a fun-filled and educational festival for the whole family with a host of free activities, exhibits and goodies bags, with limited edition notebooks and coasters.
The aim is to educate the public on HPB’s 5 main health pillars and how to incorporate and make relevant healthy living habits into their daily lives.
The 5 Health Pillars are:
• Get Active (Physical Activity)
• Eat Smart, Live Well (Nutrition)
• Screen for Life (Screening)
• Think Positive, Feel Positive (Mental Wellness)
• Tobacco-free living starts here (Tobacco Control)
There were many activities at Healthy Lifestyle Festival SG that’s suitable for the young and old, including Free BMI and eye screenings, mass exercise sessions. You can also pick up tips on how to cook healthy and tasty meals for the family or watch your little ones get sporty at the Kids’ Sports Zone at Sports Hub. Also, join the mass exercise sessions, with trampoline fitness programmes, ActiveSG Dance Fitness Party and more.
The entire festival adopts a multi-pronged approach to create and foster a supportive environment for Singaporeans to practise healthy behaviour in terms of eating well, physical, social and mental well-being. Here’s me trying to piece the wooden blocks together to form a dog! I was so bad with it, thankfully I got some help from the staff.
We were also introduced to the nation’s first one-stop online health information and services portal and mobile application: www.healthhub.sg
Eating healthier doesn’t mean having to give up all your favourite foods. Try cooking with Healthier Choice Symbol (HCS) products, which are awarded the HCS logo for being lower in fat, saturated fat, sodium, and sugar, but higher in dietary fibre, calcium, and whole-grains. During the festival, I had a better understand of HCS products and have also tried yummy drinks like Vitagen and Nutrisoy.
Taking place at the Healthy Lifestyle Festival SG is the inaugural 30-minute Healthy & Tasty Cook-Off. It is a cooking competition that challenges participants to create healthier meals in under 30 minutes, using wholegrain, vegetables and/or fruit, and products with the Healthier Choice Symbol.
Shortlisted pairs of participants will go through a round of mentorship sessions prior to semi-finals which will be held at each roadshow (4, 11, 17, 25 Oct). The winning pair from each roadshow will then proceed into the finals, held at the anchor event on 8 Nov.
It marks the second phase of HPB’s ‘Shop Healthy. Get More from Life’ campaign launched in July this year, which encourages Singapore residents to opt for food products with the Healthier Choice Symbol so they can prepare healthier meals when eating at home. Four teams of semi finalists were present during the cook-off. Each pair came up with a creative and healthy recipe.
Hoping to prepare for more healthy meals for students, Team One created a plate of creamy spinach rice with stir-fried chicken and pomegranate salad.
The father-and-son team 2 did a healthy Pan Fry fish fillet with pasta and salsa and kiwi fruit cup.
Team 3 made Biriyani rice with meatballs in creamy tomato sauce.
Team 4 turned up the competition with their Thai style meatballs with mango salad and a lovely poached egg.
It was difficult to decide on the winner because each of us had our favourites. Finally, we selected Team 4 for its flavours. Congratulations! Through this competition, I have seen how the teams work together as one and how friends help each other. I believe this improves their bonding. They are not professional chefs but this 30-Minute Healthy and Tasty Cook-off shows how easy it is to create healthy and tasty meals at home!
So the semi-finals have come to an end. If you want to see how the finalists challenge themselves, drop by the last Healthy Lifestyle Festival roadshow on 8 November to cheer them on!
Healthy Lifestyle Festival SG Anchor Festival, 10am-9pm:
Singapore Sports Hub & Kallang Wave Mall | 7-8 Nov
For information, please visit www.healthylifestyle.sg