Armenia PM: People don't fully realize real risks of malnutrition

People don’t fully realize the real risks of malnutrition. This is what Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said during a meeting with Minister of Healthcare Arsen Torosyan.

“Quitting smoking is extremely important. Recently, the government convened a consultation and decided to specify the general principles of the anti-tobacco policy. However, it is also necessary to add another key component, and that is the problem with good nutrition. We need to talk about this a lot. In Armenia, people don’t fully realize the real risks of malnutrition and the diseases that it may cause,” the Prime Minister said.

In his turn, Arsen Torosyan stated that the use of salt, sugar and trans fats in a diet can cause serious harm to a person’s health, but people often overlook this issue. The minister noted that even though it is quite difficult to stop using salt too much, it is necessary to work on introducing the culture of a healthy lifestyle in Armenia, and this will help reduce the risk of emergence of several diseases.

An unhealthy lifestyle is considered one of the key risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, including strokes and heart attacks. Currently, Armenia has a stenting plan that is carried out during treatment following a heart attack or ischemic stroke through a state order. Although Armenian doctors manage to save several patients suffering from these diseases when they provide timely assistance, it is much easier to prevent those diseases than to provide treatment. The prophylaxis is not as difficult as it seems. All one has to do is to stop smoking, not use too much salt, sugar and fats, eat right, not drink too much, etc.