A POST on X (formerly Twitter) by former Education Minister Mazlee Malik (@mzlee) highlighting that Malaysians had the most overweight citizenry in Southeast Asia has sparked a lively debate.
The post sans caption simply showed an infographic by FlyFM celebrating the country’s crowning achievement with 44.2% of Malaysians being overweight.
Thailand and Singapore were a distant second and third respectively, with each just edging past the 30% mark. Leanest of the bunch was Vietnam where only 10.2% of its populace was deemed to be overweight.
— Maszlee Malik 🏴🇲🇾 (@maszlee) July 7, 2024
While there is no source for the infographic, it should come as no surprise as Malaysia had topped similar polls in the past, looking very much like the country has been defending the title since 2013.
The post has generated 2.2 million views at the time of writing with no small amount of debate.
One netizen pointedly asked how this is possible if Malaysians are supposedly grappling with a cost-of-living crisis and are finding it hard to put food on the table.
While another observed that feasting had become par for the course for many. Simple meals no longer existed for certain demographics.
One remained sceptical pointing to the lack of obese persons in his/her surroundings.
Unfortunately, such scepticism was misplaced as one netizen pointed out that Dr Mazlee’s data was outdated, sharing the official stats from the Health Ministry (MOH) which painted an even less flattering scenario.
Of course, fingers were pointed to the usual suspects which included Malaysian favourites such as nasi kandar, nasi lemak, processed foods and assorted cheese and chocolate-coated desserts.
With a few singling out a certain chocolate-flavoured drink as a prime culprit.
With it being durian season, one commenter posted a timely reminder.
Some though took it as badge of honour and a recognition of Malaysia’s rich culinary heritage.
Whatever the causes, this is an issue that needs urgent tackling before it leads to the health system to buckle.
One netizen urged the authorities to have relevant incentive programmes that encouraged healthier lifestyles.
In light of the recent adjustment to diesel fuel subsidy and an impending move for petrol rumoured to follow soon, one netizen perhaps came up with a win-win solution. – July 10, 2024
Main image credit: Pexels.com
