Number of obese Malaysians on the rise

JOHOR BARU: More and more Malaysians are obese nowadays and, worse, many of them are children.

Disclosing this at a meeting here, Johor Health Department director Dr Mohd Khairy Yaakub said this was due to dietary patterns that have steadily evolved as a result of socio-economic change.

“Families, nowadays, eat on-the-go and the average time devoted to meal preparation has declined as a result of busy lifestyles,” he said, adding that such problems were also evident in other countries as well and have become a global challenge.

Quoting a National Health and Morbidity Survey, Dr Mohd Khairy said the number of Malaysian adults with diabetes has also increased from 14.9% in 2006 to 15.2% in 2011.

The survey also showed there was a rise in those suffering from hypercholesterolemia (presence of high levels of cholesterol in the blood), from 20.6% to 35.1%.

There was also an increase in the prevalence of obesity in the same period, from 14% to 15.1% .

“What is more worrying is that cases of people being overweight is increasing, especially schoolchildren,” he said when opening the 9th Johor Scientific Meeting yesterday.

Dr Mohd Khairy said the rise in the number of people suffering from diabetes, obesity and hypercholesterolemia is worrying.

“The Government, especially the Healthy Ministry, is concerned about the unhealthy trend and has conducted programmes and campaigns to create awareness among the public on healthy living,” he said.

“Every Malaysian should be motivated to embrace the concept of positive living by changing their mindset, attitude and behaviour. We need to exercise regularly, have a balanced diet and avoid smoking.”