MIRI: A healthy eating culture and active lifestyle need to be inculcated among the people to ensure balanced physical, mental and social health.
Sarawak Minister of Women, Early Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development, Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah said that the theme of this year's Malaysian Nutrition Month and World Breastfeeding Week celebration, which is "Eat Healthy, Be Active - Prioritise Health and Wellbeing", is timely in efforts to educate and inculcate healthy lifestyle practices in the community.
"It is a call to the entire community to pay attention to eating habits and physical activity for balanced physical, mental and social health," she said when officiating the Sarawak-level Malaysia Nutrition Month and Miri Division World Breastfeeding Week 2025, held at Bintang Megamall here on Saturday.
Commenting further, Dato Sri Fatimah cited findings from the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) which is conducted periodically at the national level as the main reference in understanding the health status of the people.
According to her, NHMS 2024 focuses specifically on nutrition, thus helping the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) identify gaps and issues related to nutrition in the country.
“Based on the NHMS, the prevalence of overweight and obesity among adults in Sarawak increased from 48.5 percent in 2015 to 53.3 percent in 2023.
“This means that more than half of the adult population is at high risk of developing non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease,” she said.
According to her, among the main contributors to this problem is energy imbalance, especially excessive calorie intake from added sugar.
“NHMS 2024 found that 63.1 percent of adolescents and 47.0 percent of adults in Malaysia consume sugar above the daily recommendation, and half of it comes from sugary drinks,” she explained.
Therefore, Dato Sri Faatimah said, the government has taken progressive steps by imposing a tax on sugary drinks since 2019.
Starting January 1, this year, tax rate will be increased to RM0.90 per liter, in line with the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) to achieve a reduction of at least 20 percent in sugar intake through the price mechanism.
She added that this move is supported by the implementation of the Strategic Plan to Reduce Sugar Intake Among Malaysians 2024–2030 which strengthens the cross-sectoral approach and comprehensive interventions.
Dato Sri Fatimah also recommended that the community undergo free nutrition and health screenings provided at government health facilities as an early prevention effort.
She stressed that the findings of the NHMS will form the basis for nutrition advocacy efforts by the Ministry of Health and the Sarawak State Health Department which will continue to be strengthened with a more practical and community-friendly approach.
Also present during the ceremony were Sarawak State Health Department Director, Dr. Veronica Lugah, Miri Division Health Officer, Dr. P. Raviwharmman Packierisamy, Sarawak State Library Regional Manager Miri, Razak Rambili, and Miri Division Breastfeeding Ambassador cum Chairperson of the Miri Division Breastfeeding Support Group, Dayang Normaliza Awang Tambi.-UKASnews
