1. The nutrition and health transition in Malaysia
Mohd Ismail Noor
Universiti Kebangsaan, Malaysia

2. Table 1. Selected socio-demographic statistics Malaysia (1980-2000)
YEAR
Population (‘000)
Infant Mortality Rate/
Crude Birth Rate/
Crude Death Rate/
Life Expectancy Rate (yrs)
Males
Females
Gross National Product (USD *‘000) , , , , ,326
Per Capita GNP (USD)
Annual GDP Growth Rate (%)
*USD 1.00 = RM 2.50 ( ), RM 3.80 (2000)
Source: Dept. of Statistics Malaysia ( )
Noor, Public Health Nutrition, Feb 2002

3. Figure 1. Changes in sources of calories in Malaysia, 1961-1997
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
% of Calories
50%
40%
30%
20%
10% 0%
1997
Cereals
Starchy roots
Vegetables & fruits
Pulses
Meat, fish, egg
Milk-excl butter
Sweeteners
Oils & fats
Miscellaneous
Figure 1. Changes in sources of calories in Malaysia,
Source: Food Balance Sheet FAO ( )
Noor, Public Health Nutrition, Feb 2002

4. Table 2. Per capita consumption (kg/year) of major food
commodities ( )
ITEM YEAR
Crops
Rice
Vegetables
Fruits
Live stock
Beef
Mutton
Poultry
Pork
Eggs
Milk*
Food Fish
Food Import (USD Million) NA
Note: * Per capita consumption in litres/year
Source: Ministry of Agriculture (1999)
Noor, Public Health Nutrition, Feb 2002

5. Table 3. Fast food industries in Malaysia – a selected list (2000)
Brand Year No. of Market Sales
(origin) (Est) Outlet Share (%) (USD million)
KFC (USA)
Mc Donald’s (USA)
Pizza Hut’s (USA)
A & W (USA)
Marrybrown (Local) NA
Sugar Bun (Local) * (1999)
Kenny Roger (USA) *
Domino’s Pizza (USA) * NA
*Others 9%, USD 1.00 = RM 3.80
Source: The EDGE (2001)
Noor, Public Health Nutrition, Feb 2002

6. Figure 2. Prevalence of obesity among (a) children and (b) adolescents 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
93-94
1998
Male
Female
Combine sexes
(a) (b)
1990
1997
Figure 2. Prevalence of obesity among (a) children and (b) adolescents
in urban area
Source: Bong & Jaafar (1995), Tee et al. (1998), Ismail (1998)
Noor, Public Health Nutrition, Feb 2002

7. Figure 3. Prevalence of obesity in adult according to sexes and area40
93-94
96-97 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
rural
urban
% of obesity
overweight
obese
Male
Female
Figure 3. Prevalence of obesity in adult according to sexes and area
Source: Ismail et al. 1995, Lim et al. 2000
Noor, Public Health Nutrition, Feb 2002

8. Table 4. Basal metabolic rate (MJ/day), total daily energy
expenditure (MJ/day) and physical activity level (PAL)
Subjects Age Male Female
(yr) BMR TDEE PAL BMR TDEE PAL
Adolescent
Adolescent
Young Adults
Adults
Elderly >
Armed Forces NA NA NA
Elite Athlete
Source: 25Yap (2001), 26Victor (1999), 27Ismail et al. (1994), 28Razali (1996),
29Ismail et al. (1996), 30Ismail et al. (1997)
Noor, Public Health Nutrition, Feb 2002

9. Figure 4. Number of admission and mortality
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
1985
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
Number of admission
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
Hypertension
CVD
Cancer
Diabetes
Admission
Death
Number of deaths
Figure 4. Number of admission and mortality
Source: Ministry of Health ( )
Noor, Public Health Nutrition, Feb 2002