KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 – The prevalence of obesity among children and adults in the country has been on the rise, according to the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2023.
In a written parliamentary reply on July 17, Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said the prevalence of obesity in children under 5 years has gone up from 4 per cent in 2015 to 5.6 per cent 2019 and 6.0 per cent in 2022.
The prevalence of stunting among children under the age of five has also increased from 17.7 per cent in 2015 to 21.2 per cent in 2022.
Meanwhile, among students aged 10 to 17, the prevalence of overweight increased from 14.6 per cent in 2012 to 15.6 per cent in 2017.
The prevalence of obesity for children in this age group also rose from 12.3 per cent in 2012 to 14.8 per cent in 2017.
“The data shows that one out of three school students are either overweight or obese,” said Dzulkefly.
Among adults, the prevalence of obesity increased from 19.7 per cent in 2019 to 21.8 per cent in 2023.
Dzulkefly provided the figures in response to Kuala Neru MP Alias Razak who wanted to know the statistics of Malaysians, both children and adults, suffering from stunting and obesity between 2013 to 2023.
Alias also wanted to know the willingness of the ministry to review the effectiveness of its programmes to overcome the issue of stunting and obesity among Malaysians.
“Both of these problems are influenced by various factors and not limited to nutritional issues only,” said Dzulkefly.
“MOH continuous efforts include reviewing the implementation of strategies and programmes that are in line with the ministry’s policies such as the Health White Paper, National Nutrition Policy (DPKM) 2.0, Reviewed Nutrition Policy Options to Combat Obesity in Malaysia and the National Strategic Plan for Non-Communicable Diseases (NSP-NCD 2016-2025).”
Among the programmes and activities that have been reviewed to overcome the issue of stunting and obesity are:
- Strengthening the first 1,000 days of life initiative, which focuses on women from pregnancy and until the child reaches 2 years of age, covering health and nutrition care.
- Expanding the criteria for recipients of the Rehabilitation Programme for Malnourished Children and the National Food Basket Programme from June 2022.
- Strengthening the Trim & Fits weight management programmes targeting overweight and obese adults in the workplace.
- Strengthening the implementation of nutrition programmes in schools in collaboration with the Ministry of Education through the Supplementary Feeding Programme (RMT), Nutritional Meal in Schools Programme (HiTS) and School Milk Programme (PSS).
- Strengthening strategic cooperation between agencies to reduce sugar intake among the Malaysia public through the War on Sugar initiative including expanding imposition of tax on sugary drinks in phases from 2019.
