Body Mass Index (BMI) of Adults: Findings of the Malaysian ...nutriweb.org.my/publications/mjn0015_2/mjn15n2_art1.pdf · Body Mass Index (BMI) of Adults: Findings of the Malaysian

Mal J Nutr 15(2) : 97 - 119, 2009

Body Mass Index (BMI) of Adults: Findings of theMalaysian Adult Nutrition Survey (MANS)

Azmi MY1, Junidah R2, Siti Mariam A2, Safiah MY3, Fatimah S2, Norimah AK4, Poh BK4,Kandiah M5, Zalilah MS5 , Wan Abdul Manan WM6, Siti Haslinda MD7 & Tahir A7

1 Johor State Health Department, Malaysia2 Nutrition Division, Ministry of Health, Malaysia3 Faculty of Health Sciences, Univeriti Teknologi MARA4 Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia5 Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences

Universiti Putra Malaysia6 School of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia7 Institute for Health System Research, Ministry of Health, Malaysia

ABSTRACT

The Malaysian Adults Nutrition Survey (MANS) was carried out between October2002 and July 2003, involving 6,775 men and 3,441 women aged 18 – 59 years.Anthropometric assessment showed that the overall mean body weight and BMIwere 62.65 kg (CI: 62.20, 63.09) and 24.37 kg/m2 (CI: 24.21, 24.53) respectively.Based on the WHO (1998) classification of BMI, 12.15% (CI: 11.26, 13.10) wereobese (BMI > 30 kg/m2), and 26.71% (CI: 25.50, 27.96) overweight (BMI > 25 - 29.9kg/m2). Significantly, more women were obese [14.66% (CI: 13.37, 16.04)] whilesignificantly more men were overweight [28.55% (CI: 26.77, 30.40)]. Ethnicity-wise, prevalence of obesity was highest among the Malays [15.28% (CI: 13.91,16.77)] while overweight was highest for the Indians [31.01% (CI: 26.64, 35.76)].Both obesity and overweight were highest among those aged 40 - 49 years.Obesity was highest for those whose household income was between RM1,500 -3,500 while overweight was more prevalent for those whose household incomeexceeded RM3,500. The prevalence of overweight was highest for those withprimary education [31.90% (CI: 29.21, 34.72)]. There was no significant urban-rural differential in both obesity and overweight. The study found 9.02% (CI:8.82, 10.61) with chronic energy deficiency (CED) (BMI < 18.5 kg/m2). Theprevalence of CED was relatively higher in the indigenous population (OrangAsli) [14.53% (CI: 5.14, 34.77)], subjects aged 18-19 years [26.24% (CI: 21.12, 32.09)],and with monthly household income of < RM1,500 [10.85% (CI: 9.63, 12.20)]. Theprevalence of CED was not significantly different among the geographical zonesand educational levels, and between urban/rural areas and sexes. The resultscall for priority action to address the serious problem of overweight and obesityamong Malaysian adults as it poses a grave burden to the country’s resourcesand development.

Keywords: Adults, BMI, findings from MANS

Correspondence author: Azmi MY; Email: [email protected]

Azmi MY, Junidah R, Siti Mariam A et al.98

INTRODUCTION

Obesity is a complex condition that comesabout as a result of dietary excesses and asedentary lifestyle. Globally 300 millionadults were reported to be obese in the year2000. At the same time, another 1 billionadults were overweight (WHO, 1998). Inboth men and women, obesity is a major riskfactor for diabetes, cardiovascular disease,hypertension and stroke, and certain formsof cancer. These can result in an increasedrisk of premature deaths or serious chronicconditions that impair the overall quality ofhuman life.

On the other hand, adult chronic energydeficiency (CED) can lead to a decline inhealth status and productivity of workers,which could impede the country’s economicdevelopment (James & Ralph, 1998). Amongwomen, pregnancy and its outcome will becompromised by CED, impacting on thehealth and nutritional status of futuregenerations.

Studies as early as in 1976 indicated thatMalaysians have both spectrums of theweight problem (Jones, 1976). The problemaffects both the poor rural adult villagepopulation (Chong, Tee & Ng, 1984) andurban executives (Teo, Chong & M Zaini,1988). Over the years, the weight problemhas been found to be higher among theIndians and the Malays. Ismail et al. (1995)reported high prevalence of overweight andobesity among Indian women (29.8% and16.5% respectively) and among urban Malaymen (23.9% and 5.6% respectively).

According to the Second NationalHealth and Morbidity Survey (NHMSll), theoverall prevalence of obesity among adultswas 4.4% and that of overweight was 16.6%while the prevalence of CED was 25.2%(Fatimah et al., 1997). Among adult men inrural villages and estates, 4.2% were obese,19.8% were overweight and 13.2% wereCED. Among women, 11.1% were obese,28.0% were overweight and 12.4% were CED(Khor et al., 1999).

The first comprehensive MalaysianNutrition Survey on Adults (MANS)included assessment of dietary intakes, mealpatterns, supplement intakes and physicalactivities. The present report focuses on theanthropometric assessment of Malaysianadults aged 18-59 years. The objectives ofthis report are to determine (i) the meanweight and mean BMI; and (ii) the prevalenceof obesity, overweight and CED using WHOBMI classification according to socio-demographic characteristics.

METHODOLOGY

The Malaysian Adults Nutrition Survey(MANS) was carried out from October 2002to July 2003 among 3,334 men and 3,441women aged 18 - 59 years old divided intosix geographical zones namely the NorthZone (Perlis, Kedah and Pulau Pinang),Central Zone (Perak, Selangor and WilayahPersekutuan Kuala Lumpur), South Zone(Negeri Sembilan, Melaka and Johor), EastCoast Zone (Kelantan, Pahang and Tereng-ganu), Sabah and Sarawak (MOH, 2008).

Weight and height of adults were takenby trained personnel working in pairs usingstandard procedures and standard digitalweighing scales (Seca 880) and body meters(Seca 208) which were calibrated everymorning. Subjects were measured in theirhomes. Women subjects included postnatalmothers but not those who were pregnant.Body weight was measured to the nearest0.1 kg while height was measured to thenearest 0.1 cm. All readings were taken andrecorded in triplicates.

The BMI was calculated by dividingweight in kilograms by height in meterssquared (WHO, 1998). The calculation of theBMIs was carried out using SPSS version 13with complex sampling module. Using theBMIs, subjects were assigned to variousweight categories based on a modified WHOClassification (Table 1) where CED Class I,CED Class II, CED Class III and ObesityClass I, Obesity Class II and Obesity Class

Body Mass Index (BMI) of Adults: Findings of the Malaysian Adult Nutrition Survey (MANS) 99

III were respectively combined as CED andobesity.

Mean weight, mean BMIs and theprevalence of CED, overweight and obesitywere analysed according to the nine socio-economic characteristics namely, zone,strata, ethnic, sex, age, household income,education and occupation. Additionalanalysis was also carried out for the menand women separately. Significance ofdifferences was conducted between zone,urban-rural stratum, sex and age. Resultsare reported as means, confidence intervals(CI) and at 5% level of significance.

RESULTS

Mean body weight (Appendix 1)

The overall mean body weight and BMI ofadult Malaysians aged 18 - 59 years were62.65 kg (CI: 62.20, 63.09) and 24.37 kg/m2

(CI: 24.21, 24.53) respectively. The mean bodyweight for those in the South [64.42 kg (CI:63.46, 65.38)] and Central Zone [63.40 kg (CI:62.56, 64.23)] was significantly higher thanthe mean body weight of adults in Sarawak[60.66 kg (CI: 59.43, 61.88)] and Sabah [58.93kg (CI: 57.86, 60.01)]. Men [66.56 kg (CI:65.91, 67.21)] had significantly higher meanbody weight compared to women [58.44 kg(CI: 57.88, 59.00)] and were on average at

least 8 kg heavier than women. Urban men[67.85 kg (CI: 66.94, 68.76)] were heavier thanrural men [64.66 kg (CI: 63.79, 65.53)] buturban women [58.46 kg (CI: 57.72, 59.20)]were not heavier than rural women [58.42kg (CI: 57.55, 59.29)].

Overall, the mean body weight washighest among the Indians [63.78 kg (CI:62.41, 65.15)], followed by Malays [(63.49 kg(CI: 62.84, 64.14)] and Chinese [62.58 kg CI:61.77, 63.38)]. Among the men, the Chinesewere the heaviest [68.17 kg (CI: 67.09, 69.24)]while the Indians were the heaviest [60.28kg (CI: 58.58, 61.99)] among the women. Themean body weight of adults peaked at 65.11kg (CI: 64.35, 65.86) among those agedbetween 40 - 49 years old. Both men andwomen showed an increase in mean bodyweight with age (Figure 1).

The mean body weight was highest forthose with a middle household incomerange of RM 1,500 - RM 3,500 [64.40 kg (CI:63.66, 65.14)]. Among the men, the meanweight was highest among those with thehighest household income of more than RM3,500 [69.27 kg (CI: 67.85, 70.69)] whileamong the women, the mean weight did notdiffer much with household income. Themean body weight was highest among thoseadults with college or university education[64.36 kg (CI: 62.82, 65.90)]. Among men, the

Table 1. Classification of body weight in adults according to BMI (modified from WHO, 1998)

Classification BMI (kg/m2)

CED Class III < 16.0CED Class II 16.0 – 16.9CED Class l 17.0 – 18.4Normal 18.5 – 24.9Pre-obese 25.0 – 29.9Obesity Class I 30.0 – 34.9Obesity Class II 35.0 – 39.0Obesity Class III > 40.0

1. CED is Chronic Energy Deficiency. CED in the text refers to CED Class l + CED Class ll + CED Class lll2. Overweight is pre-obese3. Obesity in the text refers to Obesity Class l + Obesity Class ll + Obesity Class lll


mean body weight seemed to increase witheducational level while it was almost thereverse for women.

Mean BMI (Appendix 2)

Comparing BMI across the geographicalzones, the mean BMI was highest for adultsin the South Zone [24.88 kg/m2 (CI: 24.52,25.25)] and was significantly higher thanthe mean BMI for Sabah [23.70 kg/m2 (CI:23.31, 24.09)] (Figure 2). The mean BMI ofadult women [24.61 kg/m2 (CI: 24.38, 24.84)]was significantly higher than the mean BMIof adult men [24.15 kg/m2 (CI: 23.93, 24.37)].

The mean BMI of adults between theurban [24.37 kg/m2 (CI: 24.15, 24.58)] andrural [24.38 kg/m2 (CI: 24.16, 24.60)]population was not statistically different.However, mean BMI among men in the urbanareas [24.39 kg/m2 (CI: 24.08, 24.69)] wassignificantly higher than those from ruralareas [23.80 kg/m2 (CI: 23.51, 24.09)]. Incontrast, among the women, mean BMI wassignificantly higher for those in the ruralareas [25.00 kg/m2 (CI: 24.66, 25.33)] thanfrom urban areas [24.35 kg/m2 (CI: 24.03,24.66)] (Figure 3).

Malays [24.86 kg/m2 (CI: 24.63, 25.09)]had the highest mean BMI followed by the

Figure 2. Mean BMI by zone and sex

Figure 1. Mean body weight by age group and sex


Indians [24.54 kg/m2 (CI: 24.05, 25.03)]. Themean BMI of the Chinese was 23.60 kg/m2

(CI: 23.31, 23.89), Bumiputra Sabah was23.51 kg/m2 (CI: 22.97, 24.04) and BumiputraSarawak was 23.82 kg/m2 (CI: 23.28, 24.36).The Malays had the highest BMI among themen [24.39 kg/m2 (CI: 24.07, 24.71)] andwomen [25.39 kg/m2 (CI: 25.06, 25.71)]. Themean BMI rose to 25.53 kg/m2 (CI: 25.26,25.80) among those aged 40-49 years old.Mean BMI tapered off after the age of 30-39years for men and after 40-49 years forwomen (Figure 4).

The mean BMI did not differ much withhousehold income. This pattern was similar

for the men but among the women, the meanBMI was highest among those with thelowest household income of less thanRM1,500 [24.87 kg/m2 (CI: 24.56, 25.18)].Mean BMI was highest among those withprimary school education [25.27 kg/m2 (CI:24.92, 25.62)]. However, among men, thehighest BMI was among those with a collegeor university education [24.49 kg/m2 (CI:23.82, 25.15)] while among the women, themean BMI was highest among those withprimary school education [26.37 kg/m2 (CI:25.83, 26.92)].

Figure 3. Mean BMI by strata and sex

Figure 4. Mean BMI by age group and sex


Overweight and obesity

Based on an estimated population of 13.87millions adults in Malaysia, the prevalenceof overweight was 26.71% (CI: 25.50, 27.96)(BMI > 25 - 29.9 kg/m2 ), while another12.15% (CI: 11.26, 13.10) were obese (BMI >30 kg/m2 ) (Table 2).

Prevalence of overweight (Appendix 3)

The prevalence of overweight was highestin the South Zone [29.44% (CI: 26.62, 32.43)]but the difference was only significantlyhigher that that in the North Zone [23.10%(CI: 20.17, 26.30)]. The prevalence ofoverweight among men [28.55% (CI: 26.77,30.40)] was significantly higher than the

prevalence of overweight among women[24.80% (CI: 23.16, 26.51)] (Figure 5).

The prevalence of overweight amongurban adults [26.87% (CI: 25.11, 26.71)] wasnot significantly different from that of ruraladults [26.60% (CI: 24.96, 28.30)]. There wasno significant difference in the prevalenceof overweight between urban and ruraladults for the men and women (Figure 6).

The prevalence of overweight washighest among the Indians [31.01% (CI:26.64, 35.76)]. Among the men, theprevalence of overweight was highest for theIndians [29.33% (CI: 23.28, 36.21)] followedclosely by Malays [29.26% (CI: 26.93, 31.71)]and Chinese [29.00% (CI: 25.21, 33.10)].Among the women, the prevalence of

Table 2. Distribution of adults according to the BMI classification

BMI Category Estimated Prevalence 95% Confidence IntervalPopulation

Lower Upper

CED Class Ill 204,436 0.79 0.42 1.51CED Class II 320,227 2.26 1.84 2.77CED Class l 847,135 5.97 5.33 6.69Normal 6,985,081 49.27 47.84 50.70Pre Obese 3,786,835 26.71 25.50 27.96Obese Class I 1,300,997 9.18 8.38 10.04Obese Class II 288,516 2.03 1.69 2.45Obese Class III 132,805 0.94 0.72 1.22

Figure 5. Prevalence of overweight by zone and sex


overweight was highest among the Indians[32.62% (CI: 26.49, 39.42)] followed byBumiputera Sarawak [31.68% (CI: 24.67,39.64)]. The prevalence of overweight wasalso highest for men aged 40-49 years[34.14% (CI: 31.60, 36.78)] and women aged50-59 years [35.17% (CI: 32.06, 39.53)](Figure 7).

The prevalence of overweight washighest for households with monthly incomeof more than RM 3,500 [28.70% (CI: 25.45,32.20)]. Among the men, the prevalence ofoverweight was highest among those whosehousehold income was more than RM 3,500.Among the women, the prevalence ofoverweight was highest among those whosehouseholds earned less than RM1,500. The

prevalence of overweight was also highestamong those with primary education[31.90% (CI: 29.31, 34.72)].

Prevalence of obesity (Appendix 4)

The prevalence of obesity was highest in theSouth Zone [13.81% (CI: 11.79, 16.12)], butstatistically, it was only significantly higherthan that for Sabah [8.42% (CI: 6.59, 10.68)].Among the men, the prevalence of obesitywas highest for those in the Central Zone[11.69% (CI: 9.43, 14.40)], while for women,prevalence of obesity was highest for thosein the South Zone [17.79% (CI: 14.74, 21.32)],North Zone [17.50% (CI: 14.25, 21.45)] andEast Zone [16.20% (CI: 12.54, 20.68)](Figure 8).

Figure 6. Prevalence of overweight by strata and sex

Figure 7. Prevalence of overweight by age group and sex


The prevalence of obesity for those inthe urban [12.01% (CI: 10.82, 13.32)] andrural areas [12.34%, (CI: 11.08, 13.73)] wasnot significantly different (Figure 9).

The prevalence of obesity was highestfor the Malays [15.28% (CI: 13.91, 16.77)],followed by the Indians [12.66% (CI: 10.16,15.67)] and Other Bumiputera [9.57% (CI: 5.6,15.49)]. Among the men, obesity was highestfor the Malays [11.25% (CI: 9.45, 13.33)].Obesity was also highest for the Malays[19.58% (CI: 17.58, 21.75)] among the women.

The prevalence of obesity peaked forages 40-49 years [15.12% (CI: 13.27, 17.19)]and 50-59 years [15.49% (CI: 12.89 18.51)](Figure 10). The prevalence of obesity forwomen aged 30 years and above wassignificantly higher than for those aged 18-19 years.

The overall prevalence of obesity washighest for household income between RM1,500– RM 3,500 per month [13.13% (CI:11.66, 14.76)]. It was highest among menwhose monthly household income wasbetween RM 1,500 - RM3,500 [12.59% (CI:

Figure 8. Prevalence of obesity by zone and sex

Figure 9. Prevalence of obesity by urban-rural strata and sex

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11.01, 13.1)] and among women whosehouseholds earned less than RM 1,500[16.18% (CI: 14.40, 18.13)]. The prevalenceof obesity was also highest among those withprimary education [14.41% (CI: 12.44, 16.62)].It was highest for men with tertiaryeducation [11.12% (CI: 7.49, 16.19)] and forwomen with primary education [20.09%(CI:17.05, 23.52)].

Prevalence of CED (Appendix 5)

Co-existing with overweight is the problemof underweight or chronic energy deficiency(CED) among Malaysian adults. As shownin Table 2, the study reported 9.02% (CI: 8.82,

10.61) had CED (BMI < 18.5 kg/m2). Theprevalence of CED was not significantlydifferent among the various zones (Figure11).

There was also no significant differencein the prevalence of CED among the adults,irrespective of sex, in urban and rural areas(Figure 12).

The prevalence of CED was highestamong the indigenous population (OrangAsli) of Peninsular Malaysia [14.53% (CI:5.14, 34.77)]. The prevalence of CED amongthe Chinese was 9.70% (CI: 7.97, 11.75) andamong the Malays, it was 9.11% (CI: 8.02,10.34). Among the men, the prevalence of

Figure 11. Prevalence of CED by zone and sex

Figure 10. Prevalence of obesity by age group and sex

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CED was highest among the Indians[15.05% (CI: 10.27, 21.54)]. The prevalenceof CED among men was 9.74% (CI: 8.18,11.57) for the Malays and 6.49% (CI: 4.76,8.78) for the Chinese. Among the women, theprevalence of CED was highest for the OrangAsli of Peninsular Malaysia [27.69% (CI:10.43, 55.74)].

The prevalence of CED decreasedsignificantly with age from 26.24% (CI:21.12, 32.09) among those aged 18-19 yearsold to 4.66% (CI: 3.77, 5.74) among thoseaged 30-39 years old. The distribution ofCED among the men and women followedalmost the same pattern over the age groups(Figure 13).

The prevalence of CED seemed to declinewith increasing household income and washighest among those whose householdincome was less than RM 1,500 [10.85% (CI:9.63, 12.20)]. The distribution pattern of CEDamong men and women was not as clearbut did not seem to be related to educationallevel.

DISCUSSION

The mean body weight for adult Malaysiansaged 18-59 years (66.56 kg for men and 58.44kg for women) found in this study is in sharpcontrast to the mean weight of 55 kg for menand 50 kg for women reported in the 1970s(Teoh, 1975).The mean body height is also

Figure 12. Prevalence of CED by strata and sex

Figure 13. Prevalence of CED by age group and sex

Prev

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higher than that used by the TechnicalWorking Group on Dietary Guidelines(NCCFN, 2005) which was 59 - 64 kg for menand 52 - 57 kg for women.

Comparing the mean BMI reported inNHMS ll (Fatimah et al., 1997), the mean BMIfor Malaysians aged 18 - 59 years hasincreased over the last six years from 22.26kg/m2 to 24.15 kg/m2 for men and from 22.67kg/m2 to 24.61 kg/m2 for women.

The prevalence of overweight among theMalaysian adults has increased almosttwofold from 16.6% to 29.7%. Overweightwas highest among the Indians (31.01%),and affects the minority ethnic groups too,e.g. 15.06% among the Orang Asli ofPeninsular Malaysia, 28.07% in theBumiputera Sarawak and 23.73% for theBumiputera Sabah. In fact, the prevalence ofoverweight among the Bumiputera Sarawakwomen was high at 31.68%.

The overweight prevalence of 29.71% forthe Malaysian adults aged 18 - 59 yearsindicates that the overweight problem inMalaysia is almost as serious as that for thedeveloped countries reported in the 1999 -2002 National Health and NutritionExamination Survey (NHANES) and WHO(2006).

Overall, overweight increased with ageand household income. This pattern ofincrease was also observed among the men.However, among the women, althoughoverweight increased with age, theprevalence declined with household income.In relation to educational level, bothoverweight and obesity was highest amongthose with primary education.

Compared to the NHMS ll, theprevalence of obesity among adults aged 18- 59 years was higher, apparently increasingmore than threefold from 4.4% to 12.42%. Amatter of concern from the findings is thatobesity was high in almost all the states inMalaysia (except for Sabah and Sarawak).This indicates that obesity is prevalent evenin the less developed states in the peninsula.The present findings also confirm the earlierfindings of NHMS ll, where obesity was

found to have crossed the urban and ruraldivide irrespective of income andeducational level.

As in the NHMS II, the prevalence ofobesity was highest among the Malays andIndians. In fact, the prevalence had increasedthreefold from 5.1% to 15.28% for the Malaysand more than twofold from 5.0% to 12.66%for the Indians. Even among the Chinese,the increase was more than twofold from3.5% to 7.20%. It is also important to notethat although the prevalence of obesity forthe Bumiputera Sarawak (6.82%) was thelowest, it still exceeded the overall obesityprevalence reported by NHMS ll.

Over the years, the prevalence of obesityfor the women has remained higher than themen. However, obesity among men seems tobe increasing at a faster rate. While theprevalence of obesity in women hadincreased 2.5 times from 5.7% to 14.66%, theincrease in the prevalence of obesity in menhad increased 3.3 times from 2.9% to 9.72%.Thus, although fewer men were obese, thegap between the sexes is closing.

The higher prevalence of obesity inwomen should be of concern since, inaddition to the risk for chronic diseases,obesity may also affect women’sreproductive functions. In this respect,greater attention should be focused on ruralwomen and Indian women especially thosein the lower income group and with primaryeducation.

As in NHMS ll, the prevalence of obesitywas also found to increase with age until 40- 49 years. The prevalence of obesity waslowest for those aged 18-19 years but it hasincreased almost twofold from 3.0% to 5.9%compared to the NHMS II. Among the 40-49years, the prevalence had increased 2.5 timesfrom 6.0% to 15.1%. These findings suggestthat not only has the prevalence of obesityincreased in all the age groups, the increasewas more rapid among the older age group.

That obesity is not necessarily a problemaffecting only the rich is reflected by thefinding that the prevalence of obesity washigh among those whose household income


was in the middle income group of betweenRM1,500 - RM3,500 (13.1%). Similarly, thefact that educational attainment was not afactor associated with obesity is clearlydemonstrated by the finding that theprevalence of obesity was highest amongthose with just primary education (14.4%)and presumably with low knowledge innutrition.

While obesity was more prevalentamong the housewives and retirees,overweight was more prevalent among armypersonnel as well as the legislators, seniorofficials and managers. In contrast, bothoverweight and obesity were lowest amongthe students.

When compared with the obesity ratesin the WHO (2006) report, the overall obesityrate for Malaysian adults aged 18-59 yearswas below those for the developed andindustrialised countries, particularly theUnited States (29.50%) (Centre for DieseaseControl, 2006) and Australia (15.10%).However, the Malaysian figures were wellabove those for Asian countries likeSingapore (6.90%) and China (2.9%).

This study reported a lower magnitudeof CED among Malaysian adults, from 25.2%in 1996 to 9.02%. In comparison, CED wasreported to be as high as 40% in India, 20%in China and 10% in Peru (WHO, 1995).

This report also shows that the problemof CED prevails in all zones with theexception of the South Zone, affecting bothmen and women from rural and urban areas.The relatively higher CED prevalenceamong the Orang Asli should be addressedas a socio-economic issue.

CONCLUSION

The survey findings provide strong evidencethat obesity and particularly overweightamong adults is approaching epidemicproportions in Malaysia while CED is still apublic health concern despite being on thedecline.

The obesity problem is most seriousamong the poor, rural Malay women agedabove 30 years particularly those in thestates of Johor, Negeri Sembilan and Melaka.Overweight, on the other hand, seems to bemore serious among the Indian and Malaymen particularly those who are more than30 years old and with lower education in allthe states irrespective of strata, householdincome and occupation. Meanwhile, CEDcontinues to be a problem among theminority groups and the Indians.

These findings indicate that Malaysianadults aged 18-59 years have a serious andescalating weight problem that will impedethe health of the nation. The nation’s mosteconomically productive population groupis still experiencing the twin facets ofmalnutrition which could derail nationalprogress as it spirals towards 2020 and itsvision of attaining a developed nation status.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to extend theirgrateful thanks to the Director-General of theMinistry of Health for permission to publishthis paper. The support given by therespective state nutrition officers, researchofficers, data enumerators and many otherswho helped throughout the study is alsogratefully acknowledged.

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64.4

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358

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57.5

559

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279

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364

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56.6

355

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898

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63.5

164

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1,93

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68.4

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391

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244

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1,70

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360

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Body Mass Index (BMI) of Adults: Findings of the Malaysian Adult Nutrition Survey (MANS) 111A

ppen

dix

1 C

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58.6

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pp

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x 5

Con

tinu

ed

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