LETTERS: Malaysia is reported to have the highest obesity rates in Asia. The National Health and Morbidity Survey 2019 reported that one in two Malaysian adults is either overweight or obese.
Obesity is linked to higher risks of developing chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and even certain types of cancers, not to mention the decline in work productivity and quality of life.
In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, individuals living with obesity are reported to be twice as likely to be hospitalised if tested positive. All this would lead to higher healthcare burden.
Obesity is a multi-factorial disease driven by genetics, environment and biological factors.
As such, obesity should not be attributed to a personal responsibility that leads to weight stigma and stereotyping of people living with obesity as having a lack of willpower or discipline to maintain energy balance.
It is time to move away from the narrative of sticking to fixed diet plans (for example, Atkins diet, Keto diet, low carbohydrate diets) or restrictive eating.
This method is not only unsustainable, but also may lead to the development of eating disorders and takes away the joy of eating.
As Malaysians, food is beyond just calories and nutrients. Food is part of our culture. Certain food triggers memories, while others treat food as a form of reward or satisfaction. Thus, it is important to be mindful of what and how much we are eating.
We would like to remind you to stop labelling foods as good or bad. All foods contain nutrients that are beneficial when taken in the appropriate amounts. Remember to include a variety of foods in your daily intakes.
In conjunction with the World Obesity Day, which falls on March 4, we would like to share an Android-based diet application, MyDietCam*.
It functions as a mobile food diary to monitor your food intake through image capture with artificial intelligence.
Through dietary monitoring with MyDietCam, you would be more aware and mindful of your food intake. By taking photos of our meals, it will overcome the problem of recall bias as we may have difficulty remembering what and how much we ate previously.
MyDietCam will compute the calories and nutrients of our meals, and through visualisation in the form of graphic presentations, users will be able to gauge the quality of their diet instantly.
An overall diet quality score will be generated based on the food intakes categorised in food groups. Therefore, it is important to not be too focused on including or excluding certain food items or specific nutrients.
The calorie values generated in MyDietCam* serve as a rough guide for your daily intake.
Tracking of daily food intake over time may help users to adjust the food quantities they eat and finally develop healthier eating habits through mindful eating and making more informed choices for future meals.
Think of diet monitoring as a sustainable lifestyle change for life rather than a three-month goal. Diet monitoring in the long-term will slow down the rates of obesity and prevalence of some chronic diseases.
*MyDietCam is in the final beta testing phase and is not yet available for public use. Visit our social media channels as linked below for a general overview of the application: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mydietcam;
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mydietcam/;
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvLl8VTIPZk6iU9OD2g66Uw
NADINE KONG
MMedSc Research candidate
PROFESSOR DR MOY FOONG MING
Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times