Obesity and overweight issues could undermine Malaysia’s competitiveness

Abstract

Purpose The Malaysian lifestyle has been undergoing changes over time. With better socio-economic conditions, Malaysians tend to consume more food today than they did previously. Excessive intakes of high calorie foods combined with little daily physical activity have led to increased numbers of overweight and obese people in the population. The purpose of this paper is to compare the incidence of overweight and obesity in the population in Malaysia with other Southeast Asian countries. Design/methodology/approach Data for this research were based on secondary data of average weight, overweight and obese people for populations in the Southeast Asian countries. The analysis for this research focused on the population in Malaysia and compared it with populations from neighboring countries. Findings The population in Malaysia was ranked the second highest in the number of overweight and obese people in the Southeast Asian region. In addition, the rate of increase overweight and obese people in the population of Malaysia was found to be the highest in the region. Since the percentage of overweight and obese people had increased consistently from 2010 to 2014, there was a high possibility that the momentum would continue into the following few years. Originality/value Being overweight and obese was not desirable by the majority of people as it could lead to various health diseases and psychological problems. Unfortunately, the percentage of overweight and obese people in Malaysia seems to be increasing. Improved socio-economic conditions have increased the amount of food normally consumed by people. Although many people were found to be aware of the negative impact of being overweight and obese, the majority of them did not seem to take the initiative to reduce their body weight. This research is expected to create awareness of the alarming rate of increase in the number of overweight and obese people in Malaysia in order to encourage a healthier lifestyle.

Impact of Social Media Influencers to promote Healthy Lifestyle behaviour: A Review from the Self-Determination Approach

“…Malaysia now has a "sick population" (Hassan et al, 2018;Mansor & Harun, 2014;Mustapha et al, 2014). Non-communicable disease prevalence escalated in the population as young adult aged 18 and above equivalent to 63 percent at least diagnosed with NCD.…”

“…The economic growth in developing countries such as Malaysia has brought health implications including the rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). It was reported that Malaysia is ranked the highest obesity problem in South East Asia and the sixth in Asia (Ahmad et al, 2019;Hassan et al, 2018). Based on a report by the Ministry of Health Malaysia, the leading factors of morbidity and mortality among Malaysians are due to cardiovascular problems associated with a sedentary lifestyle (Budreviciute et al, 2020).…”

Health Beliefs and Willingness to Engage in T2D Preventive Behaviours Among Malay Youth: A Qualitative Inquiry

“…In the Malaysian healthcare system, diabetes has created many challenges, particularly in dealing with the rising cases of physically deteriorating patients and providing quality healthcare for them. In addition to the mounting T2D cases among its adults, the youth in Malaysia are also at a great risk of developing T2D, given the fact that Malaysia has the highest number of obese children and adolescents in Asia (Abdul & Wan, 2020;Hassan et al, 2018;Ruiz Estrada et al, 2019) . In fact, the number of overweight and obesity cases among Malaysian youth aged 12 to 19 has been on the rise, going from just 14.2% in 2015 (Abdul & Wan, 2020) to an alarming 50% in 2020 (Institute for Public Health, 2020).…”

Intention of Restaurants’ Patronage to Use Calories Information on Making Meal Selection

“…Even though eating is intended to only suppress hunger, the consumption of food could also indicate the nutritional intake that someone has in a meal time. As mentioned by Hassan, Sade and Rahman (2018), Malaysians consumed more food than they should have. With fast advancement of food service businesses and the rise of the Malaysian general society in seeking for quick and convenient dietary life, a variety of food catering to different preferences are promptly accessible especially in urban areas.…”