It was launched in conjunction with the Malaysian Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism (Maha) 2016 show held at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park, Serdang (MAEPS).

Health Minister S Subramaniam said the National Health and Morbidity Survey showed that only 6% of adult Malaysians consumed sufficient fruits and vegetables last year compared to 7.5% in 2011.

“This is due to Malaysian eating habits that do not place high importance on the intake of fruits and vegetables, and they are more comfortable with eating cholesterol-laden and high-calorie food while ignoring the Malaysia Diet Guidelines.

“Our country is faced with health issues due to an unhealthy lifestyle,” he said after launching the campaign together with Agriculture and Agro-industry Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek.

Subramaniam said that basically, many diseases stemmed from the malfunctioning of cells caused by a lack of nutrition such as vitamins and minerals.

He noted that diabetes afflicted 17.5% of Malaysians, high blood pressure (30%), high cholesterol levels (47%), obesity (17%) and problems with being overweight (over 40%).

“The campaign launched today is apt as the message that needs to be sent to the public is ‘QuarterQuarterHalf’ which is about the healthy plate concept, that is when taking food, ensure that a quarter of the meal is made up of grains like rice.

“The other quarter should comprise proteins such as meat and the half should be made up of fruits and vegetables. If we can follow this formula, the eating habits of Malaysians will change for the better and they will be healthy,” he said.