Malaysia needs to urgently control obesity rates

Photo: Filepic/The Star

THE Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) calls on the authorities to ban the sale of sugary drinks from vending machines in hospitals, schools and other public places.

We make the call following actions taken by Western Australian authorities to institute such a ban as part of their measures to combat obesity. Under the policy, all vending machines and retail outlets, including cafés, gift shops and kiosks, are not allowed to sell sugar-sweetened drinks that have low or no nutritional value. The sugary drinks include soft drinks, iced tea, energy and sports drinks and some fruit juices, flavoured waters, and milks.

Malaysia should take a cue from this as we have the highest prevalence of obesity among adults in South-East Asia. In the 2019 National Health and Morbidity Survey, 50.1% of our adult population was reported to be overweight (30.4%) or obese (19.7%).

In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic there is an urgent need to curb the rising prevalence of obesity among Malaysians. Obesity is a risk factor for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and several types of cancers such as breast, large intestine, pancreas and kidney cancers. Compared with normal-weight individuals, obesity increases the risks of type 2 diabetes by sevenfold in men and 12-fold in women. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) patients with cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, diabetes and cancer are more vulnerable to becoming severely ill when they get Covid-19.

And according to our Health Ministry, Covid-19 patients with NCDs fare worse than others, with over 85% of those who died having pre-existing conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

An obese individual has an 81% higher risk of heart disease and 64% for stroke. In addition, Asian populations are predisposed to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases at lower body mass indexes (BMIs).

Besides that, the economic costs of these diseases are enormous. The conservative estimate of diabetes and cardiovascular disease was RM70.1bil in 2017, equivalent to about 5.1% of Malaysia’s gross domestic product that year.

A local study found that 30% of our type 2 diabetes patients are clinically obese.

Diabetic patients need to achieve as many ABC treatment goals as possible to prevent complications like cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and foot complications. (A for A1C that reflects blood sugar control over three months, B for blood pressure, and C for LDL-cholesterol or bad cholesterol.)

Diabetic patients who are obese were 1.5 times less likely to achieve ABC goals than normal weight patients. Weight reduction is a great strategy for overweight and obese patients to improve blood sugar levels and blood pressure and cholesterol control.

Worldwide evidence shows that diabetes is happening at younger ages, ie, in people below 40 years old. One of the main causes is rising obesity prevalence.

Young-onset diabetes is associated with a more aggressive disease and higher risks of complications.

The presence of vending machines packed with sugary drinks in public places makes it difficult for young consumers to control the temptation to indugle in such unhealthy drinks.

CAP has made numerous calls to the authorities to ban the sale of sugary drinks from vending machines as studies have shown that Malaysians are consuming too much sugar in their diet. However, to date no action has been taken and the number of Malaysians suffering from obesity keeps escalating.

In view of the Covid-19 pandemic and the risks it poses to people with NCDs brought on by obesity, there is an urgent need to institute this ban now.

MOHIDEEN ABDUL KADER , President, Consumers Association of Penang (CAP)