(From left) Dr Mohd Razif, Prof Hanafiah and Ho unveiling the Malaysia 2022 Youth Physical Activity Report Card for Children and Adolescents.
A STUDY shows Malaysian youth attained a low score for overall physical activity, signalling a need to increase the levels, especially in the post-pandemic era.
The findings were from “Malaysia 2022 Physical Activity Report Card for Children and Adolescents”, jointly released by life insurance provider Sun Life Malaysia, Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance (AHKGA) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).
The report card was developed as part of AHKGA’s Global Matrix 4.0 initiative and represents an evidence-based synthesis of children’s and adolescents’ behaviour towards physical activity in Malaysia.
By using a series of indicators related to daily behaviours, settings and sources of influence, strategies and investments as well as other factors, the report card provides insights and recommendations for improving the physical health of young people in Malaysia and around the world.
It was unveiled by UKM pro vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Hanafiah Harunarashid, together with Sun Life deputy chief executive officer Ho Teck Seng and UKM Active Healthy Kids Malaysia Assoc Prof Dr Mohd Razif Shahril.
Ho said Sun Life Malaysia was proud to be supporting the initiative as it was an extension of their purpose to help people live healthier lives.
“We hope to encourage children’s healthy lifestyles through thought leadership, capacity building, advocacy and awareness.
“We believe that a sustainable future depends on a healthy and resilient younger generation and that the findings from the report card will help stakeholders, policymakers, educators and parents identify more effective ways to encourage our youth to adopt healthy living habits,” he added.
Children and adolescents are not moving enough to promote healthy growth and development and the Covid-19 pandemic had only made matters worse, said AHKGA president Dr Mark Tremblay, who is also a professor of paediatrics at the University of Ottawa in Canada.
“AHKGA is pleased to be working with Sun Life to promote the physical activity of children and adolescents in Malaysia and around the world.
“Through our shared commitment to getting children and adolescents more physically active, we aim to promote their health and wellness, and that of their families, neighbourhoods and communities,” he said.
Dr Mohd Razif said physical inactivity was acknowledged as a risk element for major non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
“The report card represents collective efforts to gain a better understanding of the health and wellbeing status of our children and adolescents.
“Looking at the findings, urgent action is needed and it is a shared responsibility to improve the physical activity of our future generation,” added Dr Mohd Razif.
The report card also revealed that although more than half of children and adolescents aged between five and 17 were of normal weight (60.2%), 15% were overweight and 14.8% were classified as obese.
Malaysian adolescents also ranked in the 67th percentile for extent flexibility, which indicated that their flexibility levels are average relative to international norms.
Malaysia also scored low where just 23.5% of adolescents aged between 13 and 17 achieved the recommended daily serving of fruits and vegetables.
On a positive note, Malaysian national schools scored high for regular access to facilities and equipment that support physical activity.
This grade is the highest received among all indicators and showed an increase compared to the 2016 report card.
For sedentary behaviour, the indicator showed some improvement from grade D to C of Malaysian schoolgoing adolescents aged between 10 and 17 who watched television, used computers and played video games for no more than two hours per day.
For more information, visit activehealthykids.org.my
