Off the wire
• Cuba, U.S. retain "profound differences" over human rights issues  • Nepali PM leaves for India's Goa to attend BRICS-BIMSTEC summit  • CSRC approves IPO applications of 14 firms  • U.S. Treasury rules out China as a currency manipulator  • Brazil has over 2,000 zika-related microcephaly cases in one year  • Japan withholds annual UNESCO dues over world memory listing  • Cuba says new U.S. measures are "positive" but still "very limited"  • Chinese entrepreneur group to launch Canada tour to promote cooperation  • China starts civil servant recruitment for 2017  • SW China province aims to cut poverty through tourism  
You are here: 　 Home

Brunei faces serious children overweight problem: health minister

Xinhua, October 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

Brunei is facing serious children overweight problem, because one in every two children from the age of five is either overweight or obese in the sultanate, Hj Zulkarnain, Brunei's Minister of Health said in a message to mark the World Obesity Day 2016.

Hj Zulkarnain said being overweight and obese have "seemingly become the new normal" among children, and obesity among schoolchildren in Brunei increased to 18 percent in 2014 from 12 percent in 2008, according to a local media report on Saturday.

"This means that obesity rises by one percent every year. If this issue is unresolved, every single child in Brunei could potentially be obese in the near future", the minister said. "As a result of obesity, it is entirely possible that our children may have a shorter life span than their parents."

He said obese children in Brunei are increasingly being diagnosed with a range of health conditions that are mostly seen only in adults. Some examples include Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and sleep disorders such as having breathing difficulty during sleep, known as sleep apnea.

"It is also worrying that some children have even died at a very young age from heart attacks," the minister added.

With 62 percent of adults in Brunei overweight and obese, the minister said it is a problem that cannot be ignored.

Speaking on the World Obesity Day 2016 theme of "Ending Childhood Obesity", the minister said obesity prevention and treatment require a "whole-of-nation approach" in which policies across all sectors take health into account.

The minister advised members of the public to take action to improve the health of their family and themselves through physical activities or reducing their intake of unhealthy food and drinks. Endit