If there is a sport where what matters was the number of calories you eat each meal as opposed to the number of a certain food item, like a hot dog, over a period of time – that winner will be a Malaysian.
Here is a break down of a typical Malaysian breakfast:
Nasi lemak with fried chicken, the quintessential Malaysian breakfast.
Flickr/LWYang
nasi lemak (a fragrant rice dish cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf and topped with condiments such as fried anchovies and peanuts): 644 or three bowls of plain rice.
fried chicken: 290 calories.
teh tarik (tea made with condensed milk): 83 calories.
Add that all up and you get 1,017 calories for BREAKFAST alone.
So it is not surprising when in early February, a study found 18 percent of the country, or more than five million people, can be classed as obese. A further 30 percent are overweight.
And there is more
Now there is something else Malaysians need to worry about, and it is certainly linked to obesity: heart attacks.
The National Cardiovascular Database Annual Report found that Malaysians are getting heart attacks at a younger age than people in other countries.
Nearly a quarter of heart patients were below 50 years old, the study found and here are more figures:
17.6 percent were aged 40 to 49;
5.6 percent between 30 and 39;
1 percent from 20 to 29.
Now, the average age of someone getting a heart attack in Canada is 71, 66 in the United States, over 50 in Britain, and 61 in Singapore, according to online reports.
Why are Malaysians getting heart attacks are a younger age is certainly a complex question.
Sedentary is not just a word, it is… Malaysian
Malaysian police officer Suresh Mariah, right, exercising as he takes part in the special weight-loss fitness programme at the police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. Suresh is among thousands of Malaysian officers who have been ordered to lose weight amid concern that fast-expanding waistlines could limit their crime-fighting abilities.
AFP/Manan Vatsyayana
But the study found that half of them also face three or more risk factors – the most common being obesity, followed by high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking and high cholesterol.
Also according to Prof Datuk Dr Wan Azman Ahmad, the chief editor of the report, in-hospital death rates for heart attacks in the country was still very high.
High-calorie food aside, a separate study conducted in May found that 81% of Malaysians spend an average of six to 12 hours a day behind their desks, with 50% of them eating lunch at their work desk two to five times per week.
It also found that 86% of Malaysia’s workforce exercising less than three times per week, with 70% getting less than 30 minutes of physical activity a day at their workplace.
This included the nation’s police force who in their attempt to fight the flab organized a weight loss training camp early this year.
Also the urban lifestyle in the country does not encourage activity.
Town planning is often focused on the car and more roads than pedestrian areas. People here prefer to drive than use their own two feet.
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