Regional nutrition coordination meeting sees launch of food component database

AMMAN — HRH Princess Salha bint Asem on Tuesday attended the launch of a joint regional nutrition coordination meeting, organised by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.

The opening session of the meeting, which brought together regional representatives of WHO member states, academics, UN agencies and international organisations, saw the launch of a database of food components in the Eastern Mediterranean region, which is a joint initiative between Al Quds University and the organisation’s regional office.

Princess Salha said that Jordan has made remarkable improvements in nutrition in recent decades, yet it still suffers from a rapid nutritional transformation causing  high rates of obesity and, consequently, non-communicable diseases, like other countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The princess added that local health authorities are working, in cooperation with WHO, in supporting healthy nutrition programmes to combat obesity rates, high blood pressure, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases.

She pointed out that the launch of the National Nutrition Strategy for 2023-2030 and its executive framework embodies the commitment of the concerned governmental and non-governmental bodies to reaching better levels of nutrition in line with the Royal vision’s desired economic and social development goals.

For his part, Director of the WHO Regional Office Ahmad Al Mandhari, in a speech delivered on his behalf by the organisation’s regional nutrition adviser, said that malnutrition causes “huge losses” in the health of the population and sustainable development in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

He added that the countries of the region are doubly burdened by malnutrition, as the region suffers from malnutrition while obesity becomes more prevalent day by day.