SHOCKER! Malaysia 10th LAZIEST nation in the world & the WORST in SE Asia

Malaysia is the 10th laziest nation in the world! The shocking piece of finding came from an international study timed intentionally to coincide with the London Olympic Games.

Worse still, Malaysia turned out to be the most slothful nation by far in Southeast Asia, scoring 61.4% on the inactive index versus Cambodia's 11.2%, Myanmar's 12.7%, Vietnam's 15.3%, Thailand's 19.2%, Philippines' 23.7% and Indonesia's 29.8% . Perhaps due to its small size, neighboring Singapore was not on the survey of 122 countries grading about 89% of the world's population.

"It is not something to be proud of and it is time for the Health ministry to get cracking on making Malaysians more aware of where we stand instead of giving the usual excuses and denials which do no one any good. A healthy lifestyle and an active and bright mind go hand in hand. So if we are fitter, the tendency is that we won't be so lazy mentally either," PKR vice president Chua Jui Meng, a former Health minister, told Malaysia Chronicle.

Malaise

Malaysia has long been accused of malaise and apathy and this has in the past been attributed to the hot and humid weather in the country and a lack of educational opportunities for the large rural population. But with the advent of air-con and national access to free education at primary schools, these are clearly mere excuses.

Malaysia's malaise has been blamed for the country's inability to compete against other countries, prompting decades of affirmative-action economic policies that in hindsight have worsened the situation and spawned generations of youths who believe that it is the government's duty to owe them a living.

Leaders in Prime Minister Najib Razak's ruling Umno-BN coalition, which has been in power for 55 years, have also been quick to jump onto this 'subsidy-mentality' bandwagon resulting from the abuse and misuse of the affirmative-action policies they themselves put in place to retain political popularity and hence their grip on power.

Laziness now "pandemic"

Renowned medical journal, The Lancet, had released a hefty series of studies on the growing worldwide health problem, inactivity, which has now been elevated to “pandemic” status.

Taking into account 122 countries around the globe – about 89% of the world’s population – the researchers determined the inactivity rate of each population, and then looked at the situation for men and women singly.

The study defined inactivity as not doing five 30-minute sessions of moderate activity, three 20-minute sessions of vigorous activity, or 600 metabolic equivalent minutes per week.

Women more inactive than men

Asian powerhouses China scored 31% and India 15.6%. The United States - still considered the world's leading economy despite current financial woes - came out 46th.

According to Forbes, the good news is that the U.S. is not among the most inactive countries. The bad news is that inactivity still accounts for as many deaths globally as does tobacco use, and that’s a lot of preventable deaths.

As is the case for many of the nations analyzed, the situation is worse for U.S. women, with 47% being inactive, vs. only 33.5% of men.

The take-home message from the series is that about a third of people across the world do not meet the minimum activity recommendations (which is generally about 2.5 hours of moderate activity per week).

But countries vary greatly, with Malta topping the inactive list at 71.9%, and Greece faring best in the European Region, at 15.6%. The situation is worse for adolescents (ages 13-15) across the globe, of whom about 80% fall into the inactive category.

TOP 20

1 – Malta: 71.9% inactive

2 – Swaziland: 69.0% inactive

3 – Saudi Arabia: 68.8% inactive

4 – Serbia: 68.3% inactive

5 – Argentina: 68.3% inactive

6 – Micronesia: 66.3% inactive

7 – Kuwait: 64.5% inactive

8 – Britain: 63.3% inactive

9 – United Arab Emirates: 62.5% inactive

10 – Malaysia: 61.4% inactive

11 – Japan: 60.2% inactive

12 – Dominican Republic: 60.0% inactive

13 – Namibia: 58.5% inactive

14 – Iraq: 58.4% inactive

15 – Turkey: 56.0% inactive

16 – Cyprus: 55.4% inactive

17 – Italy: 54.7% inactive

18 – Ireland: 53.2% inactive

19 – South Africa: 52.4% inactive

20 - Bhutan: 52.3% inactive

4th leading cause of death

At heart, the issue is not an aesthetic one. Experts estimate that 5.3 million deaths worldwide are the result of inactivity, which is about the same number attributed to tobacco use, making the situation seem even more grave. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that physical inactivity is the fourth leading cause of deaths due to non-communicable diseases worldwide.

The researchers point out that the publication of the studies at the time of the summer Olympics is “not a coincidence. Although the world will be watching elite athletes from many countries compete in sporting events requiring tremendous training, skill, and fitness, most spectators will be quite inactive.” They hope that the timing of the series, along with Olympic excitement, will propel people into action. Literally.

And there’s another element of irony to our growing inactivity that shouldn’t be overlooked. Advances designed to make our lives easier and more enjoyable have made us less mobile. Not only do they contribute to the inactivity pandemic, but they may have the grimmer effect of shortening our lives.

As the authors put it, “Several behavioural and environmental factors, and megatrends (major forces in societal development that affect people’s lives) affect population levels of physical activity. Rapid urbanisation, mechanisation, and increased use of motorised transport could have caused global changes in physical activity.”

Getting back to basics, like walking or bicycling to work, would help the situation markedly, say the researchers. They calculate, for example, that if all of Denmark’s non-cycling population suddenly hopped on bicycles regularly, about 12,000 deaths per year would be avoided. Of course, there’s an important intersection between outdoor activity and environmental concerns, particularly cyclist safety and park safety, which can significantly affect our odds of engaging in healthy activities.

1.5 hours per week can extend lifespan by 3 years

If people are put off the by idea of thought of the recommended 150 minutes of moderate activity per day (like brisk walking), at least we can take solace in the fact that even less activity offers a benefit: Getting just 1.5 hours per week can extend lifespan by three years.

Tracking physical activity is notoriously difficult, and because of the range of activity level within each country can be wide, getting a handle on what’s going on even within a given country can be difficult. Though the studies seem expansive, for about a third of countries in the world, there exists no data on physical activity, mainly countries in central Asia and “those of low and middle income in Africa.”

Striking, the authors say, is the divide between where the studies are done and where disease occurs. Closing the gap in which there exists no data is critical for getting a handle on people’s habits, lifestyles, and activity levels, or lack thereof.

Auckland University associate professor, Ralph Maddison, who studies physical activity, wasn’t surprised by the figures. New Zealand had scored 50% in The Lancet survey.

“I think the need to be physical active every day has diminished due to multiple factors,” Madison said.

“Our environment has changed in terms of where we live. We drive a lot more, people spend more time in leisure-based activities, like watching television, and we also have more sedentary jobs.”

SOURCE: LANCET Inactivity defined as not meeting any of the following criteria: (a) 5 x 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week; (b) 3 x 20 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity per week; (c) an equivalent combination achieving 600 metabolic equivalent-min per week.
Country	Region	Both sexes%	Male%	Female%
Algeria	African Region	40.5	31.9	49.2
Benin	African Region	9.1	7.1	11.2
Botswana	African Region	35.2	26.3	44.1
Burkina Faso	African Region	15.5	14.6	16.3
Cameroon	African Region	40.7	33	48.3
Cape Verde	African Region	20.7	12.1	29.4
Chad	African Region	24.5	22.8	26.2
Comoros	African Region	8.3	6.1	10.6
Congo	African Region	48.6	44.4	52.9
Côte d'Ivoire	African Region	32.8	28.8	36.9
Dem. Rep. of Congo	African Region	45.2	38.4	52
Eritrea	African Region	40.4	26	54.8
Ethiopia	African Region	19.3	16.5	22.1
Gabon	African Region	36.6	26.8	46.4
Gambia	African Region	24.5	20.4	28.7
Ghana	African Region	17.6	14.4	20.8
Guinea	African Region	12.1	6.1	18.1
Kenya	African Region	16.5	15.1	18
Madagascar	African Region	23.3	18.3	28.3
Malawi	African Region	10.2	7.3	13.2
Mali	African Region	20.9	17.9	23.8
Mauritania	African Region	43.8	40	47.6
Mauritius	African Region	38.6	38.2	39.1
Mozambique	African Region	7.1	6.7	7.4
Namibia	African Region	58.5	51.9	65.1
Niger	African Region	29.3	24.4	34.2
São Tomé and Principe	African Region	19	11.6	26.3
Sierra Leone	African Region	19.9	16.2	23.6
South Africa	African Region	52.4	48.4	56.5
Swaziland	African Region	69	65.9	72.1
Zambia	African Region	17.2	15.1	19.3
Zimbabwe	African Region	23.8	21.8	25.8
Iran	Eastern Mediterranean	37	27.1	47
Iraq	Eastern Mediterranean	58.4	62.8	54
Kuwait	Eastern Mediterranean	64.5	56.9	72.1
Lebanon	Eastern Mediterranean	46.8	51.9	41.7
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	Eastern Mediterranean	45.8	37.3	54.4
Pakistan	Eastern Mediterranean	40.4	32.7	48.1
Saudi Arabia	Eastern Mediterranean	68.8	61.5	76.2
Tunisia	Eastern Mediterranean	35.9	31.5	40.3
United Arab Emirates	Eastern Mediterranean	62.5	56.1	68.9
Austria	European Region	34.8	30.3	39.2
Belgium	European Region	42.7	40.4	45
Bosnia and Herzegovina	European Region	33.6	30.3	37
Bulgaria	European Region	26.8	24.7	28.8
Croatia	European Region	23.6	26.2	21
Cyprus	European Region	55.4	48.1	62.6
Czech Republic	European Region	25	27.6	22.3
Denmark	European Region	35.1	34.8	35.4
Estonia	European Region	17.2	15.7	18.8
Finland	European Region	37.8	40.8	34.9
France	European Region	32.5	27.7	37.2
Georgia	European Region	22.3	21.1	23.5
Germany	European Region	28	27.5	28.5
Greece	European Region	15.6	16.7	14.5
Hungary	European Region	26	26.4	25.6
Ireland	European Region	53.2	47.8	58.5
Italy	European Region	54.7	49.6	59.8
Kazakhstan	European Region	31.5	32	31
Latvia	European Region	32	28.1	35.9
Lithuania	European Region	22.6	20.3	24.9
Luxembourg	European Region	47.7	49.9	45.5
Malta	European Region	71.9	70.7	73.1
Netherlands	European Region	18.2	21.3	15.2
Norway	European Region	44.2	43.4	45
Poland	European Region	27.6	23.5	31.6
Portugal	European Region	51	47.5	54.4
Romania	European Region	38.7	31.2	46.2
Russian Federation	European Region	20.8	22.7	18.8
Serbia	European Region	68.3	63.2	73.3
Slovakia	European Region	22.2	23.3	21.2
Slovenia	European Region	30	26.5	33.6
Spain	European Region	50.2	47.4	53.1
Sweden	European Region	44.2	44.1	44.3
Turkey	European Region	56	49.5	62.5
Ukraine	European Region	18.4	20.4	16.3
United Kingdom	European Region	63.3	58	68.6
Argentina	Region of the Americas	68.3	65.8	70.9
Barbados	Region of the Americas	46.9	38.3	55.6
Brazil	Region of the Americas	49.2	47.2	51.6
Canada	Region of the Americas	33.9	32.3	35.4
Colombia	Region of the Americas	43.9	39.7	48
Dominica	Region of the Americas	24.4	14.3	34.4
Dominican Republic	Region of the Americas	60	57	62.9
Ecuador	Region of the Americas	42.6	37	48.3
Guatemala	Region of the Americas	16.2	15.3	17
Mexico	Region of the Americas	37.7	37.1	38.4
Paraguay	Region of the Americas	41.3	40.7	42
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Region of the Americas	38.3	28.7	47.9
United States of America	Region of the Americas	40.5	33.5	47.4
Uruguay	Region of the Americas	34.1	28	40.2
Bangladesh	South-East Asia Region	4.7	2.7	6.6
Bhutan	South-East Asia Region	52.3	40.9	63.6
India	South-East Asia Region	15.6	12.7	18.4
Indonesia	South-East Asia Region	29.8	31.5	28.1
Malaysia	South-East Asia Region	61.4	57.3	65.6
Maldives	South-East Asia Region	39	36.6	41.3
Myanmar	South-East Asia Region	12.7	10.4	14.9
Nepal	South-East Asia Region	15.5	13.9	17
Seychelles	South-East Asia Region	22.4	22.4	22.4
Sri Lanka	South-East Asia Region	25.9	18.5	33.3
Thailand	South-East Asia Region	19.2	17.1	21.4
Australia	Western Pacific Region	37.9	35.9	39.9
Cambodia	Western Pacific Region	11.2	11.4	11.1
China	Western Pacific Region	31	29.7	32.3
Japan	Western Pacific Region	60.2	58.9	61.6
Kiribati	Western Pacific Region	46.7	38.4	54.9
Lao People's Dem. Rep.	Western Pacific Region	18.8	16.7	21
Marshall Islands	Western Pacific Region	49.6	43.5	55.7
Micronesia	Western Pacific Region	66.3	58.2	74.4
Mongolia	Western Pacific Region	9.4	9.3	9.5
Nauru	Western Pacific Region	46.5	43	50
New Zealand	Western Pacific Region	47.7	45	50.4
Papua New Guinea	Western Pacific Region	19.3	17.2	21.5
Philippines	Western Pacific Region	23.7	21.2	26.2
Samoa	Western Pacific Region	51.1	36.8	65.4
Solomon Islands	Western Pacific Region	43.7	38	49.5
Tonga	Western Pacific Region	41.8	31.8	51.9
Vietnam	Western Pacific Region	15.3	14.6	15.

Malaysia Chronicle/Forbes/Guardian