Prevalence of overweight and its associated factors among Malaysian adults: Findings from a nationally representative survey

Abstract

The World Health Organization has reported that the prevalence of overweight is a growing problem in many countries, including middle- and lower-income countries like Malaysia. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of overweight and its associated factors among Malaysian adults. A total of 9782 Malaysian adults aged 18 and above were included in this study, representing states and federal territories from the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2019. Sociodemographic data (sex, locality, age, marital status, ethnicity, educational level, income level, and health literacy), non-communicable disease status (hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia), and lifestyle behaviours (physical activity level, smoking status, and also fruit and vegetable consumption) were collected and analysed to identify factors associated with overweight. The study found that the prevalence of overweight among Malaysian adults was 50.1%. Multivariate analyses showed that several factors, including female gender [aOR (95% CI) = 1.33 (1.11, 1.58); p = .002], ages 30–59 years [aOR (95% CI) = 1.61 (1.31, 1.97); p < .001], being Malay [aOR (95% CI) = 1.68 (1.36, 2.07); p < .001], Indian [aOR (95% CI) = 2.59 (1.80, 3.74); p < .001] or other Bumiputera [aOR (95% CI) = 1.82 (1.38, 2.39); p < .001], being married [aOR (95% CI) = 1.23 (1.00, 1.50); p = .046], and having adequate health literacy [aOR (95% CI) = 1.19 (1.01, 1.39); p = .033], were significantly associated with an increased risk of overweight. Additionally, overweight individuals had a significantly higher risk of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes [aOR (95% CI) = 1.47 (1.23, 1.75); p < .001] and hypertension [aOR (95% CI) = 2.60 (2.20, 3.07); p < .001]. The study suggests that intervention programs should be implemented in an equitable and cost-effective manner to target these high-risk populations and address the burden of overweight in Malaysia.

Influences of Night Eating Syndrome and Physical Activity Level towards Students’ Body Mass Index

“…BMI is a useful tool to estimate the risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in which a higher BMI was associated with a higher risk for diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia. Recently, a study conducted among Malaysians revealed that more than 50% of Malaysians were overweight and increased risks for diabetes by 1.47 fold and 2.6 fold higher risks for hypertension (Chong et al, 2023). Therefore, the Malaysia Ministry of Health (MOH) introduced a new BMI cutoff for Malaysians in which normal BMI had been re-adjusted from 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m 2 in the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline to 18.5 to 22.9 kg/m 2 as reported in the Clinical Practice Guideline (Management of Obesity 2 nd Edition (2023)) considering different body proportion and risk for NCDs among Asians compared to other countries.…”