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It’s 2020 and Malaysia is flourishing as a middle-income nation. Albeit subjected to political controversies in the first week, our potential for the year is undeniable. As in most rising nations, when the income of citizens grow, the issue of overeating and obesity arises.

Has the fatty epidemic hit us all? Will we melt like the ice cream we all crave while studying overnight?

As of 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO) deemed Malaysia as the fattest nation in Asia with 7.1% of children under 5 being overweight. At the time of reporting, approximately half the population is overweight or obese. For context, being overweight is categorised as having a BMI of over 25 while being obese means that a person has too much body fat. Both these conditions are considered unhealthy to a person in the long run.

Last year, a sugar tax of 40 sen per litre was successfully levied across all sweetened beverages with more than 5g of sugar or sugar-based sweetener per 100ml. This includes carbonated, flavoured and other non-alcoholic beverages that are manufactured. For reference, the UK’s Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) puts a charge of 24p per litre on drinks containing 8g of sugar per 100ml, meaning to say Malaysia’s sugar tax is significantly harsher in terms of grams of sugar as well as charge per litre (ignoring currency differences).

In a report entitled Tackling Obesity in ASEAN Nations released by The Economist’s Intelligence Unit in 2017, it was found that rising incomes, shifting lifestyles and lack of awareness about sugary drinks in Malaysia were the main reasons for our nation’s growing health crisis.

The sugar tax will hopefully tackle the third issue, and assuming demand for bottled drinks are near elastic, consumption of sugary drinks will decrease. This might also have the impact of stigmatising sugary drinks in general and lead to an all round decrease in such beverages in mamaks as well as grocery lists. However, even if the tax fails to reduce sugar consumption, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad pledged that the sugar tax revenue will be channelled towards providing free and healthy breakfast for children in selected primary schools.

While the effort made is commendable, we are still far from our desired outcome. Obesity, which affects our quality of life and causes physical discomfort like breathlessness, tiredness and sleep apnea, should be dealt with wisely.

In addition to the sugar tax, healthy living opportunities should be built into residential planning in order to encourage exercise among Malaysians, young and old. The government could incentivise developers to include jogging paths and outdoor fitness equipment in their building plans by giving them a small tax break for those who do. Furthermore, the government could also channel funds towards building more communal facilities such as badminton courts in areas where obesity is more prevalent.

However, the responsibility of reducing obesity shouldn’t only fall on one party. All the stakeholders have to be aware and proactive about their own health in order for Malaysia to move on from the designated title of being the “fattest nation in Asia”.