Watch your calorie count this Raya

By Joseph Sipalan

PUTRAJAYA: Stuffing your face with your mum's rendang or lemang from your favourite stall after buka puasa may be satisfying but is bad news for your health.

With obesity levels in the country hitting record numbers, the Health Ministry fears that the festive spread could end up as the undoing of Malaysians.

Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said it didn't take much for an average person to overshoot their daily calorie limit.

“An individual taking 500 calories over their daily limit every day will end up gaining between half to one kilogramme in one week, or two to four kilogrammes in a month.

“For example, three slices of lemang with four small pieces of chicken rendang equals 500 calories. To burn 500 calories, an adult male must run either 50 minutes or walk for 200 minutes,” he said at the launch of the “Eat Healthy during Hari Raya” campaign here yesterday.

It follows from the ministry's 88888 campaign during Chinese New Year earlier this year, which encouraged revellers to stop eating when they were 80% full, to have dinner before 8pm, drink eight glasses of water daily, sleep eight hours and walk 80,000 steps a day.

Despite their best efforts, Liow noted that there was still an average increase of 0.7kg in body weight among more than half of 181 Chinese respondents who were polled by the ministry 15 days after the lunar new year.

This time around, the ministry is pushing a 55555 campaign that encourages the public to eat from the five major food groups so they get all the nutrients needed, have five servings of fruits and vegetables daily, limit their consumption to 500 calories for every meal, take just five grams or one teaspoon of sugar in their drinks, and exercise five days a week.

“Through this campaign, we hope the public will be more aware of calorie content,” said Liow, adding that the public could download details of the 55555 campaign on the Health Ministry's website.

The National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) found that 15.1% of Malaysians were overweight last year compared to 14.0% in 2006. The figure is higher for adults aged 30 years and older, at 20.8% last year compared to 14.9% in 2006.

To encourage healthy eating habits, the ministry has stationed 333 dietitians at district and village levels across the country, with another 29 to be hired soon.