Obesity is a slow-moving emergency in Malaysia – creeping steadily through the population, raising healthcare costs, reducing productivity and contributing to rising levels of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). It is one of the defining public health challenges of the 21st century and Malaysia is on the front lines. We now have one of the highest adult obesity rates in South-East Asia, with over half of the adult population classified as overweight or obese, according to the 2023 National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS). The economic toll is no less alarming. Malaysia has an opportunity to lead ourselves, the region and the world into action that can mitigate this slow-burning public health emergency.

Prof Geeta Appannah, Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at IMU University, President of the Malaysian Association for the Study of Obesity and member of the World Obesity Federation’s Policy and Prevention Committee and Dr Kent Buse tells us at Spearheading Solutions to the Obesity Crisis (The Star, 10 August 2025).