For instance, there is a high prevalence of smoking but low consumption of healthy food such as fruits and vegetables, the survey shows.
The NHMS 2023 covered 13,616 respondents on non-communicable diseases (NCD) and 9,177 on demand for healthcare.
The survey showed that the number of overweight or obese adults has been on the uptrend over the last 15 years.
A total of 54.4% of those surveyed have a body mass index of 25kg/m2 or higher, up from 50.1% in 2019, 47.7% in 2015 and 44.5% in 2011.
The trend in abdominal obesity among adults saw a jump from 9.1% in 2011 to 54.5% in 2023. In 2015 it was 48.6% and in 2019 it was 52.6%.
Despite their deteriorating physical condition, adults in Malaysia are leading an increasingly unhealthy lifestyle.
The survey found that only 4.9% of adults consumed adequate fruits and vegetables daily, a drop of 0.1% compared with 2019.
“On average, adults consume only two servings of fruits and/or vegetables daily instead of the recommended five,” the survey report stated.
Each serving of vegetables is equivalent to one cup of raw vegetables or two cups of cooked vegetables. An adequate serving of fruits is one medium apple, one medium banana or one slice of papaya.
The survey also showed that the older one gets, the more he tries to live a healthy lifestyle.
A total of 13.9% of those aged 50 to 59 have an adequate intake of fruits compared with 7.1% of those aged 18 to 19.
The survey also showed that more than half a million, or 2.5% of adults in Malaysia, live with four NCDs, namely diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and obesity.
These diseases are major risk factors for heart disease and stroke.
Almost 2.3 million Malaysian adults lived with three NCDs – 5.1% have a combination of diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol, 2.9% with hypertension, high cholesterol and obesity, 1.2% with diabetes, hypertension and obesity and 0.4% with diabetes, high cholesterol and obesity.
The addiction to smoking is also overly high, the survey showed. The prevalence of tobacco smoking among Malaysian adults stood at 19%, with Sarawak and Perlis with prevalence of more than 25%, while Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya recorded the lowest prevalence with 15% or less.
Malaysia must now drop at least 4% in tobacco consumption to meet the 15% or less target by 2025.