Materia Medica Malaysiana

Malaysian soldiers dying of obesity and heart disease

KUALA LUMPUR (dpa) - More than 20 per cent of soldiers in Malaysia's armed forces are suffering from chronic lifestyle illnesses like heart disease and obesity, a study revealed Tuesday.

Out of the 1,488 soldiers who have died in the past 10 years, more than 20 per cent died from heart disease, high blood pressure or other forms of chronic diseases, the study by the armed forces' health services division revealed.

The results, which have sparked concerns that the health of security personnel is increasingly declining, have prompted the government to introduce incentives for soldiers to stay healthy.

"This is a worrying trend," Defence Forces chief Mohamed Zahidi Zainuddin was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

One of the new incentives put in place would be to reward obese soldiers who are successful in losing 10 kilogrammes of their weight in a six-month period, Zahidi said.

He said a proposal to ban smoking at all army training camps was also in the pipeline, adding that a whopping 55 per cent of army personnel are smokers.