Malaysia is the fattest country in South-East Asia

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia is the fattest country in South-East Asia with its obesity rate on the rise, says Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

“This is not a glorious title. We are outweighing our Asean neighbours and number six in the whole of Asia – behind some Middle Eastern countries,” said the Health Minister.
Citing statistics from the National Health and Morbidity Surveys, Liow said 15.1% of Malaysians aged 18 and above were suffering from obesity as of 2011.
“This is an increase from the 14% figure of the same demographic in 2006,” he pointed out.
It was also reported that over 2.6 million adults were obese while over 477,000 children below the age of 18 years were overweight.
Liow said the rate of Non-Com­municable Diseases (NCD) such as diabetes, cancers and cardiovascular problems had also increased dramatically among Malaysians.
“This exciting era of electronic gadgets and instantaneous communication is actually a double-edged sword,” he said.
“We are increasingly becoming couch potatoes; we are not leading an active enough lifestyle to prevent ourselves from becoming obese, which is a precursor to many health problems,” he said at the launch of “Healthy Lifestyle With Skipping” programme in Hotel Istana yesterday.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2013/1/18/nation/12591415&sec=nation