Nutrition knowledge among Malaysians needs to be translated into action and practice, says Professor Dr Norimah A. Karim, Vice President of the Malaysian Association for the Study of Obesity (MASO). To tackle obesity, health education should start at a young age, in order to embed good dietary and physical activity habits in lifestyles.
To address the grave problem of obesity and related lifestyle diseases in Malaysia, government is working with the food industry, educational institutions and civil society, says Dr Chong Chee Kheong, Director of the Disease Control Division at the Ministry of Health Malaysia.
Malaysia, among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 6, has the highest obesity and overweight prevalence – 13.3 per cent and 38.5 per cent of the population, respectively. To address this public healthcare burden, a paradigm shift in focus and strategies, with more attention to preventive healthcare; consumer education; and multi-stakeholder partnerships and knowledge exchanges are needed, says Dr Tee E-Siong, President of the Nutrition Society of Malaysia.
To share lessons from significant progress in Thailand’s work to eliminate hunger and undernutrition in its country, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Mahidol University recently conducted the South-South Learning Workshop to Accelerate Progress to End Hunger and Nutrition for a range of stakeholders from Africa and Asia, in Bangkok, Thailand.
The newly released “Tackling obesity in ASEAN: Prevalence, impact, and guidance on interventions” report states that across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), obesity rates vary widely depending on ethnic, genetic, regional and economic differences, as well as socio-economic drivers such as specific social and cultural norms.
Systems-level changes to encourage healthy living, and a shift in mindsets of parents, employers and the private sector, are needed to tackle the pressing problem of overweight and obesity in Singapore, says Professor Chia Kee Seng, Dean, Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore.
Singapore has the second-highest overweight prevalence in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – at 32.8 per cent, and among the ASEAN 6, ties with the Philippines for the third-highest rate of increase in number of obese people between 2010 and 2014, at 24 per cent.
Incidence of obesity and overweight is increasing rapidly in Southeast Asia. Today, with between 20 to 35 per cent of adults overweight, obesity is reducing productive (working) life by an average of four to nine years, while the total (direct and indirect) costs of obesity can amount to as much as US$10billion in Southeast Asia, according to a report released today by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has launched “Tackling Obesity in ASEAN: Prevalence, impact, and guidance on interventions.” This report, commissioned by the Asia Roundtable on Food Innovation for Improved Nutrition (ARoFIIN), analyses obesity in ASEAN through consumer and healthcare practitioner surveys, an intervention effectiveness analysis and an assessment of the economic impact of obesity.
The Asia Roundtable on Food Innovation for Improved Nutrition (ARoFIIN) had its third annual roundtable on 27 April in Singapore. Kicked off with an introduction by Bruno Kistner, ARoFIIN Secretary, the event featured presentations by representatives from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Singapore’s Health Promotion Board (HPB), Taylor’s University and BioAnalyt GmbH.
In Asia, malnutrition – or lack of proper diet and nutrients – affects millions of children, severely limiting their potential. While there has been some progress on reducing malnutrition, a combination of global trends – climate change, economic uncertainty and volatile food prices – is putting the future progress on tackling malnutrition at risk.
The Food Science & Technology Programme (FST) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) organised its annual NUS-FST Industry Day on 12 April, where students had the opportunity to present their final-year projects and engage with representatives from the food industry and government agencies.
