Alarming Figures On Abdominal Obesity In Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 28 (Bernama) -- A survey has revealed that an astounding 47.1 per cent of males and 60.2 per cent of females in the country suffer from abdominal obesity, which increases cardiometabolic risk.
Using waist circumference as a main indicator, the large-scale survey conducted by the Malaysian Shape of the Nation (MySon) has revealed these figures, sending a chilling reminder that a more affluent lifestyle and unhealthy eating habits are the norm for many Malaysians.
Head of the survey Datuk Seri Dr Robaayah Zambahari said the survey on abdominal obesity in over 1,893 patients confirmed that a large waist circumference was associated with cardiovascular disease, hypertension, lipid disorders, diabetes mellitus and heart attacks.
Dr Robaayah, who is also senior consultant and head of the National Heart Institute (IJN)'s cardiology department said the survey, also revealed abdominal obesity being highly prevalent among people in a primary care setting.
"Obesity is typically measured by the body mass index (BMI). However, recent findings have shown that abdominal obesity is a much better determinant of cardiovascular disease risk than weight or BMI," she told a press conference on health risks associated with abdominal obesity here Thursday.
Abdominal obesity is defined as having a waist circumference of more than 90 centimetres (35.4 inches) for men and more than 80cm (31.5 inches) for women.
BMI, a measurement of body size, which is also an indicator of an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and type two disease, does not take into account the wide variation in body fat distribution across different individuals and populations.
"Waist circumference is a convenient measure of abdominal obesity that is unrelated to height and correlates closely to BMI and total body fat.
"Abdominal obesity can be simply measured by waist circumference and is an indicator of intra-abdominal adiposity, the hidden fat present deep within the abdomen associated with the development of metabolic disorders.
"Intra-abdominal adiposity has been identified as the underlying cause of cardiometabolic risk factors such as elevated triglycerides, low good cholesterol and high blood sugar," Dr Robaayah said.
She said cardiovascular disease was the leading cause of death and had emerged as a prominent public health issue around the world.
"One in eight men and one in 17 women die from this disease before the age of 65 in European countries," she added.
She said the survey also supported the findings of the Interheart Study, which examined the importance of heart attack risk factors involving more than 29,000 patients in 52 countries, "that excess fat around the waist, as measured by waist circumference, is a significant risk factor for heart attacks and a better predictor of increased risk of cardiovascular disease than BMI".
"This survey adds greatly to this knowledge because it is done on our local population covering all states," she added.
The survey was sponsored by an unrestricted grant from Sanofi-Aventis, the world's third largest pharmaceutical company, to estimate the prevalence of abdominal obesity, as measured by waist circumference, in an unselected population of consecutive patients consulting a randomly-selected sample of primary care physicians.
The study also estimated the association between abdominal obesity, cardiovascular disease and other cardiometabolic risk factors. The survey was conducted on June 22 and June 23 this year.
It involved more than 90 medical practitioners all over the nation. Patients aged between 18 and 80 years consulting their primary care physicians were asked for informed consent and invited to participate, irrespective of their reasons for consultation.
-- BERNAMA
Obesity in Malaysia