Seeing Obesity As A Disease

16 May 2014
Around the world, obesity is the fifth leading risk for global deaths and a major risk factor for diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

“People just don’t see obesity as a problem. It’s not treated as a disease because you don’t take medication for being overweight. Some think that it’s ok to be that way and that it’s merely a cosmetic issue. Over the years, the country has made great efforts to raise awareness on obesity. The only thing we haven’t done is to curb temptations,” says dietitian and senior manager at the Dietetics and Food Services department at Institut Jantung Negara (IJN) Mary Easaw.

“Food is easily attainable anywhere, anytime now. More often than not, food that is cheap is also of low quality and with high fat content.

“In families where both parents are working, ordering take-outs are often seen as the more convenient choice and most go for value-for-money options. At the end of the day, it’s all about making better choices even if you have to eat out, you can still make a choice between the healthy and the not so,” says Easaw.


What are obesity and overweight?

Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation  that may impair health. Body mass index (BMI) is simple index of weight-for-height that is commonly used to to classify overweight and obesity in adults. It is defined as a persons’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of heights in meters (kg/m2).

What causes overweight and obesity?

The fundamental cause of obesity and overweight is an energy imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended. Globally, there has been:
  • An increased intake of energy-defense foods that are high in fat.
  • An increase in physical inactivity sedentary lifestyle of many forms of work, changing modes of transportation, increasing urbanization.
Obesity and overweight 

Key Fact
  • Nearly half a million children below 18 are overweight.
  • According to the 2011 National Health and Morbidity Survey statistics, 2.6 millions adults are obese.
  • A BMI greater than or equal to 25 is overweight
  • A BMI greater than or equal to 30 is obesity 
  • More than 40 millions children under age of five were overweight in 2011. Obesity is preventable.
  • 65% of the world's population live in countries where overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight.

What causes overweight and obesity?

Changes in dietary and physical activity patterns are often the result of environmental and societal changes associated with development and lack of supportive policies in sectors such as health, agriculture, transport, urban planning, environment, food processing, distribution, marketing and education.

  • An increased intake of energy-dense foods that are high in fat.
  • An increasing in physical inactivity sedentary lifestyle of many forms of work, changing modes of transportation, increasing urbanization.

How to prevent obesity?

Children and adolescence 
  • Encourage children to drink water rather than beverages with added sugar, such as soft drinks, sports drinks and fruit juice drinks. 
  • Be a role model. Parents who eat healthy foods and are physically activity is a good example for their children.
  • Encourage children to eat slowly and eat only when hungry.
  • Serve at least two servings of fruits and vegetables daily.
Adults
  • Avoid foods that are high in “energy density” or that have a lot of calories in a small amount of food.
  • Accumulate at least 30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity activity on most, or preferably, all days of the week.
  • Spent just 10 or 15 minutes of some calories-burning activity, such as walking around the block or use stairs instead of lift.

Sources From: 






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