Eat healthy for a chance to win $8,888

That is the prize for the lucky draw in HPB's Eat Drink Shop Healthy Campaign

Shoppers at one of the HPB touchpoints at FairPrice Xtra in Ang Mo Kio Hub. Those who buy three Healthier Choice Symbol products can spin the wheel to win a prize.
Shoppers at one of the HPB touchpoints at FairPrice Xtra in Ang Mo Kio Hub. Those who buy three Healthier Choice Symbol products can spin the wheel to win a prize. ST PHOTO: NANCY KOH

In its next step to get Singaporeans to eat healthier food, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) has kicked off a campaign combining all its different healthy eating strategies.

The aim is to change the diets of people, whether they eat out or at home, by increasing the availability and accessibility of healthier food choices across different settings.

Since the end of last month, the Eat Drink Shop Healthy Campaign has been encouraging people to choose healthier options when they have meals and do their grocery shopping.

Pulling together supermarkets, hawker centres, coffee shops, restaurants, drink kiosks, food courts and petrol kiosks into a mega campaign, there are over 2,500 touchpoints across the island where people are exposed to the campaign.

Shoppers will have a chance to win $2 million worth in cash, vouchers and prizes when they pick healthier choices.

They are given incentives to choose lower-calorie meals, low- sugar or no-sugar drinks and Healthier Choice Symbol (HCS) products through in-store promotions and strategically-placed tags. Qualifying drinks, dishes and products are identified by HCS labels.

An all-encompassing campaign highlights the importance and ease of healthy eating, said an HPB spokesman. This is part of the nationwide fight against diabetes.

It is important to raise awareness on the need to eat and drink healthily and to improve the quality of your diet, to prevent or delay the onset of diabetes, she said.

The touchpoints are useful, as six in 10 people here usually eat out for lunch or dinner, and each eat-out meal contains an average of 700 to 800 calories, according to the National Nutrition Survey in 2010.

Among those who eat out for at least one meal a day, more than half of them exceed their calorie requirements. In addition, seven in 10 people either consume too much saturated fat or do not consume one serving of whole-grains, and about a quarter of them consume too much added sugar.

The campaign will end on Oct 28.

Prizes to be won include the $8,888 monthly lucky draw, $2,888 cash for successfully matched game-cards, Nets Flashpay cards with a value of $10 and supermarket vouchers. There are also free or discounted dishes and lower- sugar drinks to be won.

Ng Wan Ching

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 16, 2016, with the headline Eat healthy for a chance to win $8,888. Subscribe