Perception towards child obesity: a study in Ranau District Office / Aizatul Fatin Japinin and Noor Farrah Azreena Ahmad Murad

Malaysia already holds the dubious award for the highest rate of obesity in the continent of Asia, according to British medical journal The Lancet. Of note is that the Malaysian Association for the Study of Obesity (MASO) had already published a paper in 2005 that would show the trend of obesity in Malaysia reaching where it is now. Malaysia is ranked sixth in the Asia-Pacific region for obesity and tops the list in South-East Asia for both obesity and diabetes. Nearly 45% of Malaysian men and almost half of women are overweight or obese. Obesity is a condition that related to having an excess of body fat. Obesity is classified as having a body max index (BMI) of 30 or greater. BMI is a tool used to measure obesity. The situation become more critical, because children are listed to be among those who has contributed to increase this problem. The World Health Organization (WHO) regards childhood obesity as one of the most serious global public health challenges for the 21st century. Dr. Alya Hamzah from The Malaysian Medical Gazette have made estimation of every five school going Malaysian children is obese or overweight. Other than that, In April 2012, a survey by the Ministry of Health revealed that just over a quarter of Malaysian school children were obese or overweight. This indicates that, how serious the problem of obesity among children in Malaysia.