Philips drives awareness around the importance of changing eating behaviours

The roadshow has gained significant momentum over the past five years. As a result Philips has got to the very heart of some of the key issues facing Africa – access to primary healthcare, lighting solutions and developing consumer products focused on driving better consumer health and wellness.

With Philips’ strong focus on consumer eating behaviours across the continent, trends indicate that due to lack of education, consumers tend to choose a calorie-dense and unhealthy diet, leading Philips to drive further conversation and education around alternative solutions.

“#CardiacConversations, now in its second year, is an interactive panel discussion with leading experts in healthcare and wellness fields. It encourages hearty debates and open discussions around the importance of lifestyle changes and healthy food preparation as preventative measures against developing heart disease,” said Lucy Jones Marketing Head for Philips Personal Health in Africa.

“Our research and development teams are mandated to interrogate consumer’s daily cooking needs while also maintaining an imperative focus on developing technologies that make a real difference in people’s lives. In 2015, this difference is around saving valuable time so more of it can be spent with families, it is also around healthy cooking alternatives to reduce health risks”

“Obesity, globally, but even more scarily amongst adolescence is growing at an alarming rate – education around healthy eating needs to happen early on to avoid serious health risks,” added Jones.

According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of South Africa, cardiovascular disease, which includes heart disease and strokes, is the second biggest killer in South Africa, after HIV/AIDS. Interestingly, 80% of cardiovascular disease can be prevented by leading a healthy lifestyle. Furthermore diseases like strokes, type two diabetes and cancers are all on the increase, due to increasingly poor diets.

Understandably, barriers to healthy eating tend to remain a strong excuse for consumers choosing the unhealthy route - peer pressure, aggressive marketing of foods, busy lifestyles, limited time and general lack of awareness around healthier alternatives. This, all culminating in intakes of energy-dense, micronutrient-poor, convenient, ‘junk’ foods that are becoming more affordable and available in developing countries. 

Dr Peter Hill of Met- S Care concurs saying that the lifestyle diseases associated with Metabolic Syndrome  - a cluster of conditions diagnosed when three or more lifestyle-related chronic conditions or disorders like diabetes, cholesterol and high blood pressure are found together - pose the highest cardiovascular risk. “There is no doubt that South Africans are getting heavier and sicker and that obesity has become a modern day global pandemic that is contributing to deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCD) at a faster rate than ever before.”  Hill says healthier food choices which avoid sugar and refined carbohydrates help reduce insulin levels and provide significantly healthier outcomes.

Simply put, healthy eating is one of the most important things families can do to lead a healthier life combined with physical activity.

John Hamlett, coach for Nike South Africa and Elite athletic team Samancor added, “We need to look at eating clean and smart while also finding the right balance for your body’s needs. Be careful of the ‘bikini syndrome’ – what is shows is important, what it hides is critical. Balance is best.”

Two products produced and developed to encourage ease of use in order for consumers to make healthier cooking choices are the Philips Avance Airfryer and Philips Avance Juicer.

“The Philips Avance Airfryer XL which is the global number one low fat fryer according to Euromonitor is single-handedly making air the new oil. This simple, yet effective appliance is a versatile addition to any kitchen as it’s able to fry, grill, roast and bake your favourite foods using little to no oil. The Avance Airfryer removes up to 80% oil that you would have otherwise consumed. It not only sets itself apart from other products but makes a real difference in our consumers’ lives,” added Jones.

The Philips Avance Airfryer was recently voted as Product of the Year in the Small Cooking Appliance category by the Consumer Survey of Innovation 2015 in South Africa, testament to the success of the technological innovation in the product.

The Philips Avance Juicer has been designed to extract 10% more juice from the fresh ingredients and depending on the type of fruit or vegetables one juices, it is possible to make up to 2.5 litres of juice in one go without the need to empty the pulp container. It is also so easy to clean, taking less than a minute.

“Philips will continue to develop products and encourage important conversations like these to assist consumers on this health journey. Encouraging healthier food preparation and food choices is key and our products will always support the time and effort constraints that is so often used as the excuse not to start the journey in the first place,” concluded Jones.

For more information on Philips’ Cape Town to Cairo roadshow, click here. Alternatively, join the #CardiacConversation discussion on Facebook and on Twitter.