FEBRUARY 27— While everyone is talking about housewives and expensive hairdos, the real issue we should be talking about is how we're getting fatter and sicker.

We’re getting fatter

First, consider that about two-thirds of our adult population is either overweight or outright obese. How fast we got to this point is scary.

In the third National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) done in 2006, some 29.1 per cent of Malaysian adults were overweight while 14 per cent were obese (total 43.1 per cent). This rose to 33.3 per cent overweight and 27.2 per cent obese by the fourth NHMS in 2011 (total 60.5 per cent).

In other words, one in every three Malaysian adults is overweight (5.4 million) and roughly one in four (4.4 million) is obese. Note that within just five years, obesity prevalence among Malaysian adults nearly doubled in terms of percentage.

For perspective, this means we’re not far behind the United States, which is notorious for a growing obesity issue among its population, in terms of obesity prevalence. According to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one third (34.9 per cent) of the US adult population is obese.

Across our total population, last year a study published by British medical journal The Lancet named Malaysia as the fattest country in Asia with 45.3 per cent -- nearly half of our population – being obese, the study found. 

This is worrying as, in the decade leading up to 2006, we had already seen a 250 per cent increase in obesity among Malaysians, according to the Ministry of Health. 

And obviously obesity comes at a cost, which brings us to the next problem.

We’re getting sicker

Apart from burning extra petrol to lug our excess fat around, being obese may lead to heart disease, hypertension, stroke and other health issues called non-communicable diseases (NCDs), currently the leading cause of premature death among Malaysian adults. 

What causes NCDs? There are four main behavioural risks and apart from unhealthy diet or obesity issues, the other risks span tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol as well as a sedentary lifestyle.

To be fair, NCDs are a global issue – two-thirds of deaths worldwide are attributed to one NCD or another. In terms of the global disease burden, 75 per cent are linked to NCDs.

But things are expected to get worse in Malaysia, according to Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, who said last year that NCD-caused deaths will likely rise by 17 per cent over the next decade.

It would not be unreasonable then to expect NCD-linked health issues to rise as well, which means Malaysians would probably be sicker. 

In fact we’re already calling in sick at work more often these days, which means loss of productivity. According to the Ministry of Health’s data, industrial absenteeism from work due to illness or injury is rising, going from 390 man days lost per 1,000 workers in 2010 to 516 man days lost per 1,000 workers in 2013.

It does not help that our insurance policies require hospital admittance for coverage to kick in even for relatively minor things, but that’s a whole other subject that deserves its own discussion.

Sure enough, we’re also spending more and more on health-related expenses every year. 

In year 2012 we spent RM1,432 per capita on health compared to RM823 just a decade prior, according to ministry data. About two-thirds of what we spend on health annually goes toward curative care services as well as medication.

So what’s killing us slowly here? I submit to you that it’s our extremely food-friendly lifestyle.

First, we have access to food all the time. A 2006 study found that we eat more when food is visible and within easy reach. And most of the time, unhealthy food is the most visible and easier to get in Malaysia.

Our options at, say, 3am range from 24-hour mamak places to fast food joints and even the occasional regular restaurants trying to compete with the mamak places by offering free WiFi etc.

This leads to the second thing: we overeat. We don’t always eat because we’re hungry. We often eat because we’re hanging out (minum kopi culture), we have nothing better to do, we like the food’s packaging, and a myriad other non-hunger reasons.

Not to mention our sugar addiction too. The World Health Organisation (WHO) thought we would have 2.48 million people with diabetes by 2030, but we were already at 2.6 million like five years ago.

So how? 

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.