Unhealthy Food Habits

More than 70% of middle-aged Iranians (over the age of 45), 20% of children under the age of two, and 45% of all Iranians are obese or overweight, said Zahra Abdollahi, director general of Nutrition Department at the Health Ministry. Poor dietary habits are the main cause for 30% of all cancers and 31% of cardiovascular diseases. “About 88% of Iranians don’t take the daily recommended amount of fruit and vegetables which is five servings per day,” she said, IRNA reported.  She pointed to the measure taken recently to reduce people’s intake of salt. “The amount of salt in traditional breads has decreased by 50%.” Earlier, traditional breads had 2 grams of salt per 100 grams; the figure has decreased to one gram now.