A Review of Adult Obesity Research in Malaysia
- Author:
Lim Kean Ghee
- Publication Type:Review
- Keywords:
overweight;
obesity;
Malaysia;
abdominal obesity;
physical activity;
food intake;
hypertension;
diabetes;
metabolic syndrome;
psychiatric conditions;
breast cancer;
colorectal cancer
- MeSH:
Obesity;
Body Weight
- From:
The Medical Journal of Malaysia
2016;71(3 Suppl.):1-19
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
A literature search of articles as detailed in the paper
Bibliography of clinical research in Malaysia: methods and
brief results, using the MESH terms Obesity; Obesity,
Abdominal; and Overweight; covering the years 2000 till
2015 was undertaken and 265 articles were identified. Serial
population studies showed that the prevalence of obesity
increased rapidly in Malaysia in the last decade of the
twentieth century. This follows the rising availability of food
per capita which had been begun two to three decades
previously. Almost every birth cohort, even up to those in
their seventh decade increased in prevalence of overweight
and obesity between 1996 and 2006. However, the rise in
prevalence in obesity appears to have plateaued after the
first decade of the twentieth century. Women are more obese
than men and Malays and Indians are more obese than
Chinese. The Orang Asli (Aborigines) are the least obese
ethnic group in Malaysia but that may change with socioeconomic
development. Neither living in rural areas nor
having low income protects against obesity. On the contrary,
a tertiary education and an income over RM4,000/month is
associated with less obesity. Malaysians are generally not
physically active enough, in the modes of transportation
they use and how they use their leisure time.
Other criteria and measures of obesity have been
investigated, such as the relevance of abdominal obesity,
and the Asian criteria or Body Mass Index (BMI) cut-offs
value of 23.0 kg/m2 for overweight and 27.0 kg/m2 for
obesity, with the view that the risk of diabetes and other
chronic diseases start to increase at lower values in Asians
compared to Europeans. Nevertheless the standard World
Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for obesity are still
most widely used and hence is the best common reference.
Guidelines for the management of obesity have been
published and projects to combat obesity are being run.
However, more effort needs to be invested. Studies on
intervention programmes showed that weight loss is not
easy to achieve nor maintain. Laboratory research
worldwide has uncovered several genetic and biochemical
markers associated with obesity. Similar studies in Malaysia
have found some biomarkers with an association to obesity
in the local population but none of great significance.
- Full text:P020170214455278665610.pdf
