KOTA KINABALU: Improving health outcomes among undergraduates is the focus of a healthy lifestyle campaign that will kick off at the end of the month at the Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities.
The campaign will champion the Ministry of Health’s Agenda Nasional Malaysia Sihat (ANMS) by focusing on ensuring adequate moderate exercise, the practice of eating according to recommended portions under the Malaysia Healthy Plate and eating five servings of vegetables and fruits a day.
This follows a preliminary study carried out among undergraduates in March to understand their lifestyle habits in key areas, including that of physical activity, nutrition, hydration, sleep and risky habits such as smoking, vaping and consuming alcohol.
The campaign was mooted by the Sabah Health Department Health Promotion Branch, which approached the UMS-UNICEF Communication for Development (C4D) Research Unit. The Research Unit, anchored at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, focuses on the use of evidence-based research and communication interventions to change behaviours.
UMS Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities Dean, Professor Dr Asmady Idris, who attended a briefing and feedback session prior to the scheduled launch, said the “whole of nation” approach of the ANMS should be supported.
“We have a crisis with non-communicable diseases in Malaysia. The issue of Malaysians being overweight is something we need to look at.
“Perhaps from what we learn in this campaign, we can come up with a UMS and Sabah Health Department version for it to be expanded further,” he said in his welcoming remarks.
UMS-UNICEF C4D Research Unit head Dr Latif Lai said the preliminary study involving 360 students assessed knowledge, attitudes and practices related to a healthy lifestyle.
He said while in general the knowledge, attitudes and practices were positive for a number of indicators, the findings revealed mixed results on some key indicators, prompting the Research Unit to refine areas to focus on, with feedback from the Health Promotion Branch.
“We found that 70 per cent of respondents have inaccurate knowledge on how much moderate exercise is needed in a week, and 77 per cent do not practise the recommended minutes of exercise per week.
“We also found that while a high percentage know about the Malaysian Healthy Plate, six in 10 respondents do not consume their meals based on what is recommended. Another indicator was 90 per cent of respondents do not have the correct knowledge on how much vegetables and fruits they need to consume in a day, and 77 per cent take only one to two servings of vegetables and fruits a day,” he said.
The Malaysian Healthy Plate refers to consuming half a portion of vegetables and fruits, a quarter portion of protein and a quarter portion of carbohydrates per main meal.
Another indicator that will be looked at but only for the knowledge component is the correct consumption of alcohol units for both men and women per week.
He said a number of face-to-face and social media interventions have been identified for the key areas and will be carried out over a period of six months at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, involving its undergraduates. The campaign is known as FSSK x ANMS, with FSSK referring to the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities.
Also present at the briefing were the Ministry of Health’s Health Education Division Senior Assistant Director Razmin Ramli, Sabah Health Department Promotion Branch head Nor Saadah Omar, Sabah Health Department Nutrition Branch head Shahrulnaz Norhazli Nazri and UNICEF’s Programme Specialist for Sabah Dr Elaine Kong. The session was also attended by senior management of the faculty, programme heads, research unit fellows and student leaders.
