Tips for Eating Out (1) As a city of great food and cuisine in the world, eating out is a favourite activity among the Hong Kong people, in order to relax and to socialise with families and friends. It also gives us a break from cooking and an opportunity to taste various dishes. When we choose the restaurant dishes, do we only focus on the appearance, smell and taste of the food, yet ignore the importance of maintaining a healthy and balanced diet? Food options: Choose a healthy, balanced meal taking the food pyramid as reference. Among the food you choose, the most should be grains and cereals, followed by vegetables and the least should be meat. They should be in a ratio of 3:2:1 by volume. Choose dishes with low-fat Ingredients such as lean meat, skinless poultry, low-fat diary products, non-fried soybean products, and prepared by low-fat cooking methods like steaming, boiling in soup, grilling, stir-frying with small amount of oil. Choose less food that are relatively high in salt, e.g. ham, bacon, sausages, salted fish, salted eggs, pickle vegetables. Be cautious of additional sources of oil and salt to the dishes e.g. chilli oil, table salt, oyster sauce, soy sauce and gravy. To boost up vegetables intake, apart from ordering a dish of green salad or boiled vegetables, it is good to choose dishes that use vegetables as the main Ingredients with small amount of meat, e.g. stir-fried celery with chicken meat, stir-fried beef with assorted capsicums. Choose fruit or fruit-based options as dessert. Choose water as the drink of first choice. Source from Non-Communicable Diseases Aware Volume 5 Issue 4 April 2008