The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), in collaboration with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC), has launched the second phase of its comprehensive awareness campaign Start Now under the slogan Eat Healthy, which aims to raise awareness about the importance of eating healthy food regularly and turning it into a daily routine.

The second phase of the campaign focuses on educating the public on healthy and balanced food choices that provide an adequate nutritional value for the body. One of the most important messages of the second phase is calling for healthy meals that include vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, low fat dairy products, healthy meats such as fish and chicken, in addition to adopting healthy ways of preparing food by reducing the use of sugar, salt and fat, replacing frequent soft drinks with water and sometimes fresh juices, as well as drinking 8 to 12 cups of water a day.

The campaign also seeks to encourage the preparation of healthy homemade foods and to involve children in the process to get them into healthy habits at an early age.

The launch of the second phase of the campaign prior to the Holy Month of Ramadan also seeks to encourage the public to follow healthy eating habits until it becomes a daily routine during the month of fasting and throughout the year.

Sheikha Dr Al-Anoud Bint Mohammed Al-Thani, Director of Health Protection and Non-communicable diseases at the Ministry of Public Health, said that the positive response that the first phase of the campaign received has given the ministry a strong incentive to launch the second phase.

We aim to spread the concept of balanced and healthy nutrition to a wider community and to illustrate to the public the nutritional plans they need to follow to enjoy good health.’

The Start Now Campaign is a qualitative initiative of the Ministry of Public Health and comes in the framework of the Ministry’s relentless efforts to promote a health culture in the community, in line with the National Health Strategy and towards the realisation of the human development pillar of Qatar National Vision 2030.

For more information on MoPH’s Start Now Campaign, visit moph.gov.qa.