Ministry Concerned Over Increasing Number Of NCDs

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 (Bernama) -- The health ministry is concerned over the growing number of adults and children suffering from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), said Health deputy director-general (public health) Dr Lokman Hakim Sulaiman. He said it was unfortunate that while Malaysians enjoyed the benefits of affluence, their current state of health and nutrition was gradually on the decline. He said the main NCDs are heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and cancers while the main risk factors for NCDs included hypertension, obesity and high cholesterol. "They all start from three behavioural risk factors, which are unhealthy eating, sedentary lifestyle and tobacco smoking," added Dr Lokman after flagging off the Walk For Cure 2012 organised by Columbia Asia Hospital at Bukit Jalil here on Sunday. He noted that Malaysians had become so comfortable in their sedentary habits like sitting in front of the television or computer screen for hours that they ignore physical activity. He said, heart attacks and strokes were now the top five causes of death while high blood cholesterol affected 35.1 per cent of the population, or one in three adults. "One in seven adult Malaysians aged 18 and above is diabetic, and the total number of adults afflicted with diabetes has increased almost two-fold in just five years, from 1.5 million in 2006 to 2.6 million in 2011," he said. Meanwhile, about 2,000 people attended the 'Walk for Cure' held simultaneously in Bukit Jalil Park, Taiping Lake Gardens in Perak and Hutan Bandar Mutiara Rini in Skudai, in southern state of Johor on Sunday. In Bukit Jalil, about 1,000 people took part in the 2.6km walk in support of the Global and Malaysia Diabetes Foundation. -- BERNAMA