View shot here is a response to the restriction of Nasi Lemak in Malaysian school. For only be serve or sell once a week, it trigger a lot of comments and opinions among resident in this Nasi Lemak country. Divide between tradition, health and economic sense, the reaction is varied. Some positively accept this restriction, other ask for revision, others found it nonsense. But fact is fact, and I'm about to present it here. It's not for the hatred of this iconic food of ours. It's my favorite as well. But it's the truth that will shock you. 

What harm can a traditional food be. It's been here since century. It's a part of history. People eat it for generation. Your grandpa eat it since he is a mere child. He didn't grow overweight. Nasi Lemak is not the one to blame! True. 

But the different from today and your grandpa's day is, outdoors. Nasi Lemak is moderate-to-high calories food. Which is good for someone who has muscle-based tough days. Sweat and tears days. Not a good one for our child who seat in front of TV exercising only by pushing the remote button. Who has someone to pick them up to and from school. Which pretty much encouraging for fat stocking instead of fat burning.

Since the recipe of Nasi Lemak never much change. And of course the one that been eaten buy our grandparent is healthier compare to what we are consuming now. The nutritional fact of Nasi Lemak should not vary by large in the school for a research that is 5 years old. Furthermore with a lot of additive, artificial flavoring used, the Nasi Lemak healthy quality degraded accordingly. So the 5 years old research which has been conducted by Nutriweb is sufficient enough  to be used.

From research done by Wan Nudri Wan Daud and Aminah Abdullah, macronutrients content in food available in primary school canteens is low. Nasi Lemak contain the highest amount of energy, and protein. And that's the result in Malay school. At Chinese school, things also in the same trend but, Nasi Lemak here contain more energy compare to the one sold at Malay school.

Standard Nasi Lemak such as the one we eat at restaurants or the kids buy from hawkers contain much more than what is in school version.  According tu Nutriweb, it falls into medium categories (101-400 kCal). Information collected from Dailyburn.com suggest that, Nasi Lemak contain 177 kcal per 100g servings.

 

For average calories from Nasi Lemak at school canteen, student should in average get around 370.65 kcal per single servings (estimate around 210g per plate/serving today). Which is ABOUT the same amount of calories found in:

That is the fact and relation of Nasi Lemak (Coconut Rice) between fast food and activities you can do to burn it off. From this point of view and statistic, it is justified that Nasi Lemak is not a healthy food if you don't have a good regular workout. And idea of banning carbonated drinks only is not a wise decision. Since 8 of that serving equal to 1 nasi lemak. And this is only the estimation for the school version. The number of calories in hawker version may reach twice that amount. The only recommendation here is to use standard cooked rice and its amount is carefully regulated to allow student to enjoy a healthy version of nasi lemak. This also to control and standardize the amount of oil use while cooking sambal (paste). Well that at least can be done if you want to see Nasi Lemak sell everyday. Moreover, kids should learn how to choose and eat healthy diet starting early at home. If we didn't adapt the knowledge, no matter what rule has been declared, we just hopeless in term of living a healthy life.