Diabetes and Hypertension on Rise Among Teens

Diabetes and Hypertension on Rise Among Teens

Staying fit and healthy, it appears, is increasingly more difficult for students in Malaysia today.

Sabah Health Department Director Dr Mohd Yusof Ibrahim said the chances of young Malaysians being obese are much, much higher compared to just a few years ago.

He added that other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like diabetes and hypertension were also on the rise among teenagers due to unhealthy eating habits and a passive lifestyle.

“In 2006 there were only four per cent obesity among teenagers but the figure increased to almost 12 per cent last year. The growing number of fast food outlets and their popularity among teenagers has been identified as a major contributing factor to this,” he said when officiating at the Program Siswa Sihat (PROSIS) at Universiti Teknology Mara (UiTM) here yesterday.

Yusof said diabetes which was previously common only among the elderly, was also becoming more common among young adults and children.

“Hypertension is also very common among students now, and we believe that for every patient detected there are at least 10 more undetected cases,” he added.

And to deal with the worrying trend, he said the Health Ministry has come up with various programmes including PROSIS, which was aimed at creating awareness among students at higher learning institutions (IPTs) on non-communicable diseases.

by Murib Morpi.

Read more @ http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/06/17/diabetes-hypertension-on-rise-among-teens/