Healthy food program adjusts requirements

Hee Jae Lee, the local project assistant for the REACH Biba Program, said: “We hope more restaurants will join the BIBA program. They play a critical role in raising awareness in obesity, diabetes and hypertension on Saipan.” (Bea Cabrera)

To encourage more restaurants to participate, the program that encourages them to offer healthier items on their menu will adjust its food standards so that it will be easier to implement.

Instead of requiring restaurants to stick to a particular cooking procedure that is deemed healthy, the Racial Ethnic Approach to Community Health, or REACH, Biba program will just ask participants to make a simple pledge to offer healthier fare, said REACH project assistant Hee Jae Lee.

“The plan is to make it easier for restaurants to qualify under Biba standards,” Lee said.

The program initially required restaurants to have a certain limit in calories, to use or have food with less saturated fat and lower sugar content, and to offer two servings of fruits and vegetables.

“Most restaurants find that to be too stringent and for the customers’ part, it takes a lot of time for them to analyze the menu,” said Lee.

REACH plans to implement the pledge system by October.

“It’s a pledge from the restaurant that ‘This establishment will be offering a healthy side dish upon request for some of the menu items’ so the establishment can be a part of the BIBA program. We are making it very simple for the restaurants. Basically, as long as the restaurant is carrying out an offer for a healthy option to the customer, then they can be part of the program,” Lee added.

The REACH Biba program was established three years ago and aims to promote healthy living through healthy eating in the Commonwealth. Its funding from Centers for Disease Control through the University of Hawaii is ending in September. However, the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.’s Non-Communicable Disease Bureau will adopt the restaurant program starting October.

“We are pushing this because we want to help people to have a healthy lifestyle. To date, 50 percent of adults on Saipan have been found to have hypertension and if its untreated, this condition sends you to dialysis. Hypertension also comes from obesity. Two out three adults on Saipan are obese and 70 percent of population eat at least one serving of processed meat per day,” Lee said

“We are consuming too much salt in our diet and 75 percent of adults on Saipan eat less than five servings of fruits and vegetables everyday. One serving is half a cup. That means people are only consuming half of half of the recommended serving. This results in not getting enough potassium in the body, which can shoot up blood pressure,” Lee added.

The Biba program will continue to reach out to restaurants on island to give diners a healthy option even in a simple way, like offering fruits and vegetables as side dishes or substituting french fries with salad or fruits.

“Restaurants play an important part in helping control the obesity epidemic here on Saipan. If they are going to partner with us and serve healthier food to customers, the whole island can be healthier,” Lee said.

Currently, there are four restaurants that have adopted the program: Caravan, Everest Kitchen, Shenanigans, and Shirley’s Coffee Shop.