‘No cook’ policy forces boarders to patronize fast food

Juno, 22, a call center agent, goes to a fast food restaurant whenever she gets hungry.

She blames her landlord’s policy disallowing boarders from cooking meals in their boarding house for her gustatory habit.

“Nahimo na nako ng kusina (Fast food restaurants now serve as my kitchen). It is convenient in a sense that you don’t need to prepare your food,” said Juno.

The same thing goes for 20-year-old student Lianne who often eats at fast food restaurants because of its convenience and affordability. On average, she takes her lunch and dinner in fast food restaurants, five times a week.

“It’s comfortable eating at any fast food chain, aside from its quick service and budget-friendly meals, I can seat comfortably especially now that the weather is hot,” said Lianne.
But when told of the health risks of too much fast food and junk food, both felt there is a need to change their eating habits.

In a press briefing yesterday, the Department of Health Central Visayas (DOH-7) advised the public to avoid high intake of fatty foods as it has been linked to risk of developing colorectal cancer.

“It’s alarming to those, like us, who stay in a boarding house where cooking is not permitted. We usually eat fast food,” said Juno.

Colorectal cancer is both a colon and rectum which runs from the large intestine to the lower digestive system down to the last inches of the colon.

The symptoms only show when you’re 50 years old and older. Colorectal cancer has been one of the top four leading causes of death in the Philippines,” said non-communicable section head of DOH-7, Dr. Eugenia Cañal.

She said that in a recent seminar for colorectal cancer awareness she attended in Manila, 11-12 Filipinos die from this kind of cancer per year as gleaned from the 2010 data of the World Health Organization (WHO).

“Not eating the right kind of food like junk food might lead to obesity and worse to urinary tract infection. Fast food are already precooked with mono-saturated fats because they are mostly deep-fried and contain preservatives” said Dr. Lakshmi Legaspi, DOH-7 assistant regional director.

Though, scientists have not yet determined what causes cancer, there is a consensus that genetics, environment and lifestyle contribute to its development.

“One should be screened and of course eat the right kind of food, less on fats and more on fiber” Legaspi added.