Malaysia is reported to have the highest obesity rates in Asia.

The National Health and Morbidity Survey 2019 reported that every one in two Malaysian adults are either overweight or obese.

The World Health Organization has defined obesity as ‘abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health’.

Obesity, a term we are all familiar with; but how many are aware of the consequences it brings?

Obesity is more than just body image. 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 the stereotyping of people living with obesity as having a lack of willpower or discipline to maintain energy balance, as obesity is commonly linked to individuals with low self-esteem, bullying and depression.

Obesity rates have been on the rise in developing countries, especially here in Malaysia where it is reported to have the highest obesity rates in Asia.

The most recent National Health and Morbidity Survey 2019 reported that every one in two Malaysian adults are either overweight or obese.

This is highly alarming as obesity has been linked to higher risks of developing other 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 as well.

In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, individuals living with obesity are reported to be twice as likely to be hospitalized if tested positive.

All this will eventually lead to higher healthcare burden in the years to come.

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 (e.g., Atkins diet, Keto diet, low carbohydrate diets, etc.) or restrictive eating.

This is not only unsustainable, but may also lead to the development of eating disorders and take away the joy of eating.

As Malaysians, food is beyond just calories and nutrients. treated as fuel. Food is also a part of our culture.

Certain foods trigger memories, while others are seen 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 labeling foods as good food or bad food. 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 that falls on March 4, we would like to share an Android diet application we have developed: MyDietCam*.

It functions as a mobile food diary to monitor your food intake through image capture with artificial intelligence for image recognition.

Through dietary monitoring with MyDietCam, you will indirectly 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 for lunch yesterday.

MyDietCam will compute the calories and nutrients of our meals and through visualizations in the form of progress bar graphic presentations, users will be able to gauge the quality of their diet instantly.

An overall diet quality score will be generated instantly based on the progress of food intakes categorized in the food groups.

Therefore, it is important to be mindful while eating and not to be too focused on only including or excluding certain food items or specific nutrients.

The calorie values generated in MyDietCam serves as a rough guide for your daily intake.

Tracking of daily food intake over time may help users adjust the food quantities they eat and finally which is not the focus of the application.

We hope that this tool will be able to aid you to develop healthier eating habits through mindful eating and making more informed choices for your future meals.

Think of diet monitoring as a sustainable lifestyle change for your whole life rather than a three-month goal.

Diet monitoring in the long-term prospect will be to combat or slow down the rates of obesity and prevalence of some chronic diseases in Malaysia.

*MyDietCam is in the final beta testing phase and is not yet available for public use. You may 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) and Professor Dr Moy Foong Ming, Department of Social & Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya.)