Over half of Malaysian adults are overweight
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the survey found that 32.6 per cent of adults aged 18 and above were overweight and 21.8 per cent were obese.
Combined, this means 54.4 per cent of the adult population in the country are either overweight or obese.
The survey also found that 15.6 per cent of adults, or 3.55 million Malaysians, have diabetes, while 29.2 per cent, or 6.65 million, have hypertension.
Perak recorded the highest prevalence of diabetes at 21.7 per cent, followed by Pahang at 21.5 per cent and Perlis at 20.6 per cent.
For hypertension, Perak also topped the list with 40.2 per cent, ahead of Sarawak (39.9 per cent) and Perlis (39.1 per cent).
Regarding overweight adults, Kuala Lumpur ranked highest at 40.6 per cent, followed by Putrajaya (35.5 per cent) and Labuan (34.8 per cent).
Perlis, however, had the highest obesity prevalence at 32.8 per cent.
Dzulkefly said the government was stepping up collaborations to address the rise in non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including diabetes, hypertension, and obesity.
He also spoke about the Roczen Universal programme, a free digital health intervention designed to help Malaysians manage obesity and type 2 diabetes.
He said Malaysia had partnered with Reset Health, a United Kingdom-based platform used by the NHS to manage obesity and diabetes, to introduce end-to-end digital healthcare solutions locally.
"This initiative focuses on screening, treatment, and lifestyle interventions, with a strong emphasis on family and community-based health.
Healthy parents will raise healthy children, but unhealthy parents are more likely to raise unhealthy children," he said.
He added that the ministry had proposed several new initiatives for the upcoming budget to strengthen Malaysia's response to obesity and diabetes.
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