A national study on the prevalence of obesity among 16,127 Malaysians.
A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in all states of Malaysia with the aim to determine the prevalence of obesity among Malaysians aged fifteen years and above and factors associated. A stratified two-stage cluster sampling design with proportional allocation was used. Trained interviewers using a standardized protocol obtained the weight and height measurements and other relevant information. Subjects with a body mass index >= 30 kg/m2 were labelled as obese. The results show that the overall national prevalence of obesity among Malaysians aged 15 years old and above was 11.7% (95% CI = 11.1 - 12.4%). The prevalence of obesity was significantly higher in females (13.8%) as compared to 9.6% in males (p< 0.0001). Prevalence of obesity was highest amongst the Malays (13.6%) and Indians (13.5%) followed by the indigenous group of "Sarawak Bumiputra" (10.8%) and the Chinese (8.5%). The indigenous group of "Sabah Bumiputra" had the lowest prevalence of 7.3%. These differences are statistically significant (p< 0.0001). Logistic regression analysis results show that there was a significant association between obesity and age, gender, ethnicity urban/rural status and smoking status. The prevalence of obesity amongst those aged >= 18 years old has markedly increased by 280% since the last National Health and Morbidity Survey in 1996.


CONCLUSIONS
The overall prevalence of obesity in Malaysia is very high as compared to 1996. There is an urgent need for a comprehensive integrated population-based intervention program to ameliorate the growing problem of obesity in Malaysians.
Rampal
Lekhraj
L
Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Malaysia. dr_rampal1@hotmail.com
Rampal
Sanjay
S
Khor
Geok Lin
GL
Zain
Azhar Md
AM
Ooyub
Shafie Bin
SB
Rahmat
Ramlee Bin
RB
Ghani
Sirajoon Noor
SN
Krishnan
Jayanthi
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data