Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin is pictured during the 2022 Health Policy Summit at the World Trade Center Kuala Lumpur on August 16, 2022. — Photo by Hari Anggara
By Ashley Young
Tuesday, August 16, 2022 8:09 PM CST
KUALA LUMPUR, August 16 — A Stanford University study, which found Malaysians to be the world’s third laziest person, did not reflect what was happening on the ground, Khairy Jamaluddin said today.
The health minister said the study, which looked at population obesity levels and step counts per day, did not take into account the fact that Malaysian cities are not built for health.
“It does not reflect the fact that Malaysia and Malaysian cities are not very walkable cities. We do not have urban planning and a built environment that promotes a healthy lifestyle.
“We don’t have transportation networks that promote a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. It has been designed to make you as sedentary and dependent on your car as much as possible,” he said today at the 2022 Health Policy Summit policy dialogue at the World Trade Center, Kuala Lumpur.
Khairy said that in addition to the lack of access to being more active on a day-to-day basis, many people and their families face a dilemma when it comes to having a better diet.
“Food is expensive, good food is expensive. Parents want to give their children nutritious food, but instead it’s easier, cheaper and more convenient to give them fast and processed food.
“They want to exercise, but find it difficult to do so because some of them are juggling two or three jobs,” he said.
He stressed that while it’s important to encourage people to make healthier choices, it also takes humility to understand the barriers that exist.
“It is very easy for the Ministry of Health to preach to people about how to live better, about how to eat healthier without understanding the obstacles and limitations that people have in wanting to live a healthier life.
“Of course, it can be helped in part through promotional campaigns or through behavioral science. But there are actually some very real structural obstacles and barriers to people living a healthy life,” he said, adding that all ministries need to work together to put health at the center of policy making.
“Ideally, what I have in mind is that when we get to the budget cycle, we should take health aspects into account, just as we take gender equality into account when crafting new policies.
“Just as every ministry now takes climate change into account (in their policies), we must also ask, ‘What are we doing for health outcomes?’ so that we can say: ‘This is the contribution of my ministry to health outcomes,’” said the Rembau parliamentarian.
The Policy Dialogue was also attended by former Health Minister Tan Sri Dr. S. Subramaniam, Sunway Center for Planetary Health Executive Director Tan Sri Prof Dr Jemilah Mahmood and Axiata Group Chairman Tan Sri Shahril Ridza Ridzuan who joined virtually.
Source: www.malaymail.com