By Hetty Musfirah Abdul Khamid | Posted: 07 November 2010 1639 hrs
SINGAPORE: The
problem of obesity is getting worse in Singapore.
The latest
National Health Survey shows the obesity rate has increased from 6.9 per
cent in 2004 to 10.8 per cent this year.
This year's National
Healthy Lifestyle campaign is thus adopting a more holistic approach to
help Singaporeans fight the flab.
More than 1,000 people turned
up at the launch of the campaign by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.
They
tried out the new Singapore Workout that includes traditional dance
moves.
The message is for Singaporeans to get healthy together
and combat obesity.
Health Promotion Board (HPB) CEO Lam Pin Woon
said: "Based on the National Health Survey, the obesity rate is
definitely on the upturn.
"This is very alarming for us; we do
not want to be in the same situation like the other western countries
where the obesity rate is that one in three of the population is obese.
"For
now, our obesity rate is (about) 10 per cent - that's already very
alarming, and we have to do something about it.
"This year, we
want to create a social movement (and) get everyone to see the value of
having a healthy weight (and) enjoy life by being healthy".
The
HPB attributes the rise in obesity here to a lack of physical activity
and a more sedentary lifestyle.
The National Health Survey found
that 45.9 per cent of Singaporeans do not exercise.
Mr Neville
Dotival, who lost about 18kg over three months to weigh 88.8kg, said: "I
feel a lot better, I feel more energetic, I can play more with my kids.
He added that he is now fit enough to join his sons in
activities during school events such as Sports Day.
HPB's Youth
Health Division director K Vijaya said: "There is a growing body of
evidence to suggest that chronic disease including obesity has its roots
in pre-natal and the early developmental stages of one's life.
"As
a result of this evidence, we are shifting our obesity prevention
efforts further upstream, to the pre-natal and early years of one's
life.
"We will be empowering parents to nurture health
lifestyles, among their children.
"We are coming up with
guidelines, strategies to provide a conducive environment for this
purpose such as baby friendly hospitals that support breast feeding.
"In
addition, we will be coming up with guidelines to prevent
indiscriminate advertising of food and beverages to children".
Other
efforts include getting those from the food industry to develop lower
calorie food products and meals, to cut some 25 billion kilocalories
from Singapore's food supply by 2013.
HPB also intends to roll
out a nationwide Body Mass Index survey every two to three years to
better monitor obesity trends.
-CNA/wk