Experts: Watch your sugar intake with back-to-back festivities

Bitter from the sweet: A recent survey found that one in five participating Malaysians aged between 18 and 40 years had developed symptoms of prediabetes or diabetes. Malaysians as a whole, also have the highest rate of diabetes in South-East Asia. — RAJA FAISAL HISHAN/The Star

PETALING JAYA: As Malaysians prepare to celebrate back-to-back festivities, health experts are ­urging the public to rein in their sugar intake, warning that weeks of indulgent eating and drinking could quietly raise the risk of diabetes.

Public health expert Prof Dr Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia cautioned that persistently high blood sugar levels during consecutive festive periods can push the body towards insulin resistance, a key precursor to diabetes.