Fat nation or big fat lies?
No doubt one of the hottest topic on every mamak-patrolling M'sians' mind right now is on how FAT we are. If you've been stuck on an island with no international roaming or wireless hi-fi and have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm referring to the frontpage of yesterday's News Strait Times: 'Fat Nation' (September 29, 2006):
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Friday/Frontpage/20060929080840/Article/index_html
So according to MySoN (Malaysian Shape of the Nation) survey, 54% of our adult population is overweight or obese, that's more than double compared to 10 years ago (24.1%)!
Hmm, now I have no doubt to the fact that M'sians in generally need to get off our butts more and be more active, practice better eating habits, and take more concern regarding health issues. However, to declare that more than half of our adult population as unhealthy, blobs of fat is a bit alarming. Think about it, if 50% of the adult population is overweight that would make every other person I meet on the street a porky pete or peggy! In other words, the next time you step into an LRT, let's say there are 200 ppl onboard, 100 of them will definitely be fat...I don't know bout you, but I find that fact (to borrow from the headlines of the NST) a bit too hard stomach. Quite frankly I find the findings of the survey to be a bit ridiculous!
If you read the article properly, it says that the survey was carried out over the course of 2 separate days...that's it. Two freaking days. And their sampling came from a total of 1,985 patients. Although they failed to mention where the patients came from or what ailments they suffered from. My guess is that most of them were admitted for health conditions that range from heart failure, diabetes, or just plain obesity. Now if you do a survey on a group of patients that are largely afflicted with above mentioned conditions, surely most of them would already have a history of obesity la! If not why do you think they have diabetes or heart problems? Duh!
I'm no expert, but if I were to conduct a research of this kind of magnitude I'd certainly spend more than a mere 2 days. And there are certain key factors that have to be considered such as urban versus rural, age group, range of income, etc. I wonder if any of the researchers ever considered where they were gonna get their samples or specifying the scope of their research before embarking on such a bold project. Frankly from a journalistic point of view I find the researchers' methology rather lacking and irresponsible. Perhaps if they made their findings available to the public to scrutinise I would be a bit more convinced. For now I smell a rat, a rather fat one at that.
However, all said and done the timing couldn't be more appropriate. What with the current shortage of sugar and Puasa month going on. Perhaps this article (however unreliable it is) could serve as a wake-up call to all M'sians out there to be a bit more health conscious and perhaps start practicing some moderation and self-restrain when it comes to their nasi lemaks, roti canais, and milo ais.
But honestly, I don't foresee any drastic changes. A turnaround in attitude for M'sians is likened to miracles of proportions equivalent of the parting of the Red Sea. And besides, a more health conscious nation would spell the inevitable doom for the mamak empire. And considering how much our local anes and Ramly burger abangs contribute to our yearly GDP, I don't see that happening anytime soon. For now, make mine kurang manis ane!
* On a side note. Did you know that above mentioned article was co-written by our very own Anita Glory of Journalism June '04 batch. Kudos to you Anita, you're one lucky gal!
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Friday/Frontpage/20060929080840/Article/index_html
So according to MySoN (Malaysian Shape of the Nation) survey, 54% of our adult population is overweight or obese, that's more than double compared to 10 years ago (24.1%)!
Hmm, now I have no doubt to the fact that M'sians in generally need to get off our butts more and be more active, practice better eating habits, and take more concern regarding health issues. However, to declare that more than half of our adult population as unhealthy, blobs of fat is a bit alarming. Think about it, if 50% of the adult population is overweight that would make every other person I meet on the street a porky pete or peggy! In other words, the next time you step into an LRT, let's say there are 200 ppl onboard, 100 of them will definitely be fat...I don't know bout you, but I find that fact (to borrow from the headlines of the NST) a bit too hard stomach. Quite frankly I find the findings of the survey to be a bit ridiculous!
If you read the article properly, it says that the survey was carried out over the course of 2 separate days...that's it. Two freaking days. And their sampling came from a total of 1,985 patients. Although they failed to mention where the patients came from or what ailments they suffered from. My guess is that most of them were admitted for health conditions that range from heart failure, diabetes, or just plain obesity. Now if you do a survey on a group of patients that are largely afflicted with above mentioned conditions, surely most of them would already have a history of obesity la! If not why do you think they have diabetes or heart problems? Duh!
I'm no expert, but if I were to conduct a research of this kind of magnitude I'd certainly spend more than a mere 2 days. And there are certain key factors that have to be considered such as urban versus rural, age group, range of income, etc. I wonder if any of the researchers ever considered where they were gonna get their samples or specifying the scope of their research before embarking on such a bold project. Frankly from a journalistic point of view I find the researchers' methology rather lacking and irresponsible. Perhaps if they made their findings available to the public to scrutinise I would be a bit more convinced. For now I smell a rat, a rather fat one at that.
However, all said and done the timing couldn't be more appropriate. What with the current shortage of sugar and Puasa month going on. Perhaps this article (however unreliable it is) could serve as a wake-up call to all M'sians out there to be a bit more health conscious and perhaps start practicing some moderation and self-restrain when it comes to their nasi lemaks, roti canais, and milo ais.
But honestly, I don't foresee any drastic changes. A turnaround in attitude for M'sians is likened to miracles of proportions equivalent of the parting of the Red Sea. And besides, a more health conscious nation would spell the inevitable doom for the mamak empire. And considering how much our local anes and Ramly burger abangs contribute to our yearly GDP, I don't see that happening anytime soon. For now, make mine kurang manis ane!
* On a side note. Did you know that above mentioned article was co-written by our very own Anita Glory of Journalism June '04 batch. Kudos to you Anita, you're one lucky gal!
posted by Brendon | 11:54 PM
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