Materia Medica Malaysiana

Action plan for healthy living

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians tend to overeat, don't exercise enough and become fat and unhealthy.
This has prompted the Government to draw up a National Plan of Action for Nutrition.
In its plan to control obesity and its related diseases, the Government will outline several 10-year targets beginning this year.
The aim is to encourage breastfeeding, healthier eating habits and reducing child obesity through educational activities and healthy lifestyle campaigns, Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said.
Speaking at a press conference after the launch of the Nutrition Society of Malaysia’s scientific conference here yesterday, Dr Chua said Malaysians were eating out more often and were skipping meals due to their busy schedules.
“Malaysians could eat up to 24 hours,” he said.
The lack of physical activity was evident as the ministry’s survey in 1996 showed that only 11.6% Malaysians exercised adequately,” he said, adding that the figures would not have changed much today.
He said the data also showed that the prevalence of overweight and obese adolescents in urban areas was high at about 40%, while about 8% of urban primary schoolchildren could be overweight.
Dr Chua said being overweight and obese were major risk factors for diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.
He also said that strategies under the action plan included educating the public on the new Recommended Nutrient Intakes for Malaysia (RNI), which was launched at the same function.
The new RNI was drawn up based on local research and data.
Nutrition Society vice-president Prof Dr Mohd Ismail Noor said the information from the RNI, which was a revision of the 1975 Recommended Dietary Intake, would be made available to the public through pamphlets and consultations by the country’s 450 nutritionists and dieticians.
“In the new RNI, Malaysians are encouraged to eat more dietary fibre and reduce calories intake through fatty foods and oils.
“The RNI also gives guidelines on recommended nutrient intake based on the degree of physical activities,” he said.