More than half, or 53.5 per cent, of Malaysians screened under the National Health Screening Initiative (NHSI) are either overweight or obese.

The NHSI 2023 figures were released by then-Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa in a written Dewan Rakyat reply 29 November 2023.

As for children, 30 per cent of those aged between 5 and 13 years are obese, regardless of whether they come from rich or poor families.

Cases of overweight people and obesity are now increasing at an alarming rate in the country, said Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali.

Malaysia has earned the unsavoury title of the fattest nation in Asia with about half its population being obese in the span of 30 years.

Naturally, Malaysia tops the obesity rankings followed closely by Brunei in Southeast Asia as well.

Obesity rankings in Southeast Asia

1. Malaysia
2. Brunei
3. Thailand
4. indonesia
5. Philippines
6. Singapore
7. Myanmar
8. Laos
9. Cambodia
10. Vietnam

(Source: World Population Review)

A sedentary lifestyle, consuming large amounts of convenient but unhealthy ultra-processed food and environmental stress are some main factors that lead to obesity in Malaysia.

Malaysians are proud of our food heritage but our diet is made up of a lot of ultra processed food with significant amounts of salt, sugar and various sauces thrown in for good measure. Sedap! Our tastebuds have been irretrievably changed as a result.

Ironically, we boast to everyone, especially foreigners, Malaysian food is the tastiest!

In food-obsessed Malaysia, the opening of a new bubble tea shop or a US fast food outlet often means long queues around the block made up of eager foodies hoping to be one of the first customers.

Malaysians need to eat healthier with less salt, less sugar and go back to traditional plant-based foods such as tofu, gluten products and soy proteins.

Obesity is one of the leading causes of preventable death, dramatically decreasing not just a person’s overall quality of life but also their life expectancy. Obesity puts people at higher risk for diabetes, heart disease and even certain types of cancer.

(Sources: New Straits Times, The Star, ASEAN Post)

This post has been edited by J2001k2: Mar 1 2024, 11:21 AM

Asia ke SEA?

Malaysia = Gemok

Ok, I gemok lor.

if you keep complaining why food is so tasteless
it's not the food at fault, it's you

What's wrong with boasting that our food is tastiest? it is what.. it's not like we're boasting that our food is the healthiest to begin with..

-insert picture of Sanusi here-

hey at least we are No.1 for something.

Jom minum minuman potong kaki for Friday lunch

This post has been edited by Diesel 86: Mar 1 2024, 11:10 AM

i think the point the article is making is our tastebuds have already been damaged by excessive amounts of salt, sugar, sauces....but we don't realise it. We just like to boast our food is the tastiest. We now think fresh, healthy food with natural flavours is bland or lousy.

This post has been edited by J2001k2: Mar 1 2024, 11:12 AM

those lehleh and potong kaki food..
expect good bmi?
kekkkk

Last time always saw skinny rempits…

Now most rempit doing grab/foodpanda all body big2 edi…

RM300 a day How not 2 spent the rezeki on McD daily

Sarahan their mon and dad…

Last time dad or mom body slim, go married landwhale dad/mom…

Then pass on the big body gene to kids…

Poor people have poor dietary, go for volume rather than quality.

Malaysia is like Southern Bible Belt US, republican conservative and crazy about sugar eg. sweet tea etc.

Rather double park than park far

its easier to control population nurtured to have dependency towards the powers that be:

1) keep them unhealthy and proud of it
2) keep them uneducated and proud of it.

saw this coming.... literally. even school kids have XXXL sizes.

Janji SeDAP

If you need shit tons of sugar and cheeseeee to cover up the food then clearly the food isn’t very tasty

Straight to the point
Should be laziest not fattest

Roti canai 400cal

1pc not enough at least mesti mau roti kahwin

Easy 1000cal early in the morning

Every nations on this planet should put an end to Malaysia's existence with thermonuclear weapons before the obesity pandemic spread all over the universe.

Then we shall truly achieve world peace.

Malaysia is the cause of worldwide obesity? Bodo ke apa ni?

My favourite food isn't covered with sugar nor cheese oh... haha.
Anyway ultimately it is up to the individual if they want to eat healthy or not to begin with and parents to train and educate their children to eat healthy when they are young. It's not just eating habit that made us fat really, a lot of us aren't active in everyday life also... we need to work out more.

This post has been edited by hteekay: Mar 1 2024, 12:13 PM

Our nurse and doctors also fatty boom boom

What do u expect. I saw some nurses in private and gov looks struggling to walk around the hospital

food is still affordable and people over eat .
unhealthy foods are plenty from teh T , most drinks , roti C , fried kueh teow , fries, burgers etc...

this trend will be hard to reverse unless one is extra health conscious

Meaning ekonomi bagus lah
Lel

Fat is sign of prosperity yo

Owaiii

Now McD kena boycott already

So soon we'll be less fat..

Anyway I'm going McD later yea

If you are fat overweight and blame only on the food you eat.
No wonder you are still fat.

wwait.. let me read this report while sipping on my milo dinasour gao gaoooo

It is not your fault
But it is your responsibility

Food and Obesity

The Malaysian diet is high-sugar, high-fat, high-calorie. Nasi lemak and roti canai uses huge amounts of coconut milk and oil. (Of course, Malaysia also has a vested interest in the use of palm oil.) SEDAPPPPPPPP!

Malaysians lead a sedentary lifestyle- long hours at work, too hot for outdoor exercise, driving everywhere because of a lack of safe pedestrian infrastructure and a lack of good public transport. (ALL Malaysians live in big houses and drive big cars! Not like Singapore. )

Malaysian Chinese have the cultural belief that being fat is a sign of prosperity and wealth, and ignore the real health risks. Pursuing material wealth is more important than investing in one's own health.

There is a lack of education about personal health and healthy eating habits. This lack of awareness becomes a vicious cycle. Even posters meant to give advice to diabetic patients show them eating high-sugar fruit (e.g. mangoes, grapes) and drinking full cream milk. Haha!

This post has been edited by J2001k2: Mar 2 2024, 11:27 AM

Kearah no.1 tergemuk di dunia, you can do it, malaysia boleh!

Don't stop with no 1 in Asia, aim higher.

Overuse in sugar.

Ever a recent tourist videos say that everything sweet include non sugar coffee

So outdated, should go for milo dinosaur sultan baru KAW KAW

the creamer has sugar.