The Quarter Quarter Half (QQH) meal concept was introduced by the Ministry of Health, Malaysia (MOH) in 2016 to promote a healthier lifestyle amongst Malaysian. The National Health and Morbidity Survey 2019 conducted by the National Institutes of Health, MOH found that there was an increased percentage among Malaysians to the prevalence of known diabetes with 18.3% compared to the findings found in 2011 with 11.2% and 2015 with 13.4%. The trend for hypertension cases shows a plateau of 30.0% compared to 2011 with 32.6% and 2015 with 30.3%. A reduction was found based on the prevalence of known hypercholesterolemia to be 13.5% and 24.6% with the unknown ones. The survey also found that over 50% of the adults in Malaysia are classified as overweight and obese with 30.4% and 19.7% respectively.

Diabetes, hypertension as well as hypercholesterolemia are also known as non-communicable diseases (NCD) and those with NCD are classified as the high-risk group of people who are vulnerable to the current Covid-19 virus and have caused severe outcomes or even death. Individuals with a well-balanced diet and who exercise consistently and regularly can maintain their mental and physical health. As the MOH promotes QQH to reduce the matter, is considering QQH concept enough to ensure the right amount of meal intake for us?

If you’re not sure if the QQH portion is the right amount for you, Dr. Roseline Yap who is a Nutritionist, and the Honarary treasurer of the Nutrition Society of Malaysia has suggested that a 9 inches plate is most suitable for adults and 7 inches for the children filled with: -

• 1/2 portion of vegetables

• 1/4 portion of good carbohydrate

• 1/4 portion of protein such as fish, egg, lean meat, etc.

• A glass of water

If an individual is trying to reduce weight, they need to know how much calorie intake a person needs each day. There are many online calculators available for free where you just need to provide your age, gender, height, weight, and level of exercise intensity data per week and it will generate the total number of calories needed to maintain weight or mild and even extreme weight loss outcome.

Let’s not procrastinate and get the right plate size because it matters. Apply QQH meal concept based on the desired calorie count as these steps are essential to maintain or even reduce our weight.