KUCHING: The Ministry of Health (MoH) together with the Ministry of Education (MoE) and Parents-Teachers Association (PTA) has launched the C-HAT at School Intervention Programme throughout the nation.
C-HAT stands for ‘Cara Hidup Anda Terbaik’ and is an initiative to address the issue of obesity among school students.
The programme is being implemented in collaboration with the United Nation Children’s Fund (Unicef).
Deputy Minister of Health Lukanisman Awang Sauni said a total of 49 schools across 10 states involving some 2,427 students will participate in this intervention programme.
He was speaking at the launch of the C-HAT at School Intervention Programme on Tuesday (Aug 29) at SK St Thomas here.
He revealed that results of the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) showed an increase in the prevalence of overweight and obese children aged 13 to 17 from 24.6 per cent in 2012 to 30.5 per cent in 2022.
“Unfortunately, Malaysia ranks the second highest for childhood and adolescent obesity in Southeast Asia. This finding is deeply concerning as it indicates a rising trend in the prevalence of overweight children, obesity and unhealthy eating habits.
“Children who are overweight or obese are at risk of developing nutrition-related non-communicable diseases like diabetes and hypertension in their adulthood,” he said.
Lukanisman said the programme is one of the activities approved in the National Plan of Action for Nutrition under Strategy 5 which is supporting community-based nutrition programmes or interventions and research innovation to broaden the reach and maximise nutritional impacts.
He said the programme is guided by a comprehensive intervention model that includes nutrition, physical activity, exercise, mental health and psychological components.
He also said the programme aims to emulate the success of the Smart Fit Weight Management Programme which was implemented in several schools in Perak and Penang as well as the Less Obesity Programme in Johor.
“I have great hopes for this programme to run smoothly, achieve the outlined objectives and ultimately bring about impacts that we can all be proud of. I also hope that all parties involved will provide unified cooperation and strong support for the implementation of this programme.
“A strong collaboration between MoH, MoE, school principals, teachers, the PTA and parents is crucial to determining the success of this intervention programme,” he said.
