Malaysia's obesity rate highest in Asia

The Star Online

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has been rated as the highest among Asian countries for obesity.

Science Advisor to the Prime Minister, Tan Sri Zakri Abdul Hamid, said new findings from British medical journal, The Lancet, showed that 49% of women and 44% of men in this country were found to be obese.

 "This is a very big problem because it has implication on diabetes, heart problem and others and our Prime Minister has also asked the global science and innovation advisory council to work on this," he told reporters.

According to a new study published last month by The Lancet, Malaysia was rated heavyweight at 45.3% of its population, followed by South Korea (33.2%), Pakistan (30.7%) and China (28.3%).

Zakri was at the launch of the United Nations University-International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH) at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) medical centre here.