RIYADH, 6 October 2005 — The Ministry of Health has issued advice to parents to remember their children who are not fasting during the holy month and has told patients suffering from chronic diseases to observe fasting only on medical advice.
“Parents tend to stay awake throughout the night and sleep the whole day after suhoor meal ignoring their children,” Dr. Fayssal Farahat, consultant for public health at the Ministry of Health, told Arab News. He added that the infants and children who wake up in the morning as usual find they are left alone without the attention of their parents. “The domestic aides also get used to long periods of sleep following a hard night’s work,” he said.
Patients who suffer from acute diabetes and hypertension should regulate their intake of medicines on medical advice, he said, pointing out that Islam exempts the sick from fasting.
“Most health problems are likely to arise from inappropriate diet, over-eating and insufficient sleep,” Dr. Farahat said, adding that there is no need to consume excess food at iftar, dinner or suhoor. “During the holy month of Ramadan, our diet should not differ very much from our normal diet and should be as simple as possible. The diet should be such that we maintain our normal weight, neither losing nor gaining.”
In view of the long hours of fasting, we should consume slow digesting foods including fiber-rich foods rather than fast-digesting foods. Slow digesting foods last up to eight hours, while fast-digesting foods last for only three to four hours. Slow-digesting foods are those that contain complex carbohydrates — for example barley, wheat, oats, millet, semolina, beans, lentils, whole meal flour, and unpolished rice. Fast-burning foods that contain refined carbohydrates are foods that contain sugar and white flour.
Meals should be balanced, that is containing foods from each food group. Fried foods are unhealthy and should be limited. They cause indigestion, heartburns and weight problems.
Dr. Farahat advised people to drink as much water or fruit juices as possible between iftar and bedtime so that one’s body may adjust fluid levels in time.
