Body Physique and Lifestyle of Urban Preschool Children in Japan and Malaysia

• Published in: Japanese Journal of Health and Human Ecology Vol. 63; no. 3; pp. 157 - 165
• Main Authors: SAKAMOTO, Naoko, Lin, Khor Geok, MARUI, Eiji
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Japanese Society of Health and Human Ecology 31.05.1997
• Subjects: Malaysia, BMI, urban area, children, lifestyle
• ISSN: 0368-9395; 1882-868X
• DOI: 10.3861/jshhe.63.157

In several developing Asian countries, industrialization is advancing primarily in the capital cities and urban areas, while the more traditional life is being maintained in the rural areas. Consequently, the coexistence of a dual structure of two ?gincoherent" parts of society is evident in these rapidly developing countries. Such a dual structure exists not only in the economic area, but also in the field of health, particularly nutrition. Nutritional problems in the third world countries used to be focused on under-nourishment and malnutrition. Although these problems remain in the rural sector and poor communities, the opposite problem of overnutrition has been emerging especially in urban areas. Chong (1975) reported that obesity-related chronic degenerative diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and fatty liver, have increased in recent years in rapidly developing countries. Malaysia is one such Asian country which is experiencing the dual problem of under and over-nutrition. Malaysia has undergone industrialization and urbanization after independence in 1957 with paralleling rapid economic development changes in the dietary habits and health problems of Malaysians. Khor and Gan (1992) found that the main causes of death in 1970 were certain conditions originating in the perinatal period, diseases of the circulatory system, symptoms of ill-defined and unknown causes according to the "Statistics on Causes of Death in Malaysia." In 1989, however, causes such as diseases of the circulatory system, accidents, neoplasm, and diseases of the respiratory system became the leading causes of death. In addition, in the case of deaths caused by diseases of the circulatory system, the mortality rate per 100, 000 population doubled from 1970 to 1989. Hanaki and Ozeki (1990) differentiated obesity into two types, namely simple obesity attributed to environmental factors and symptomatic obesity stemming from fundamental diseases. The more common type was simple obesity, and the intrinsic cause was due to energy intake exceeding energy expenditure. Murata (1990) suggested that obesity was related to an urbanized dietary style. In Japan, since the 1970s, the prevalence of childhood obesity has risen following the increase of adulthood obesity, along with economic growth which brought a great change in the dietary habit and other lifestyles among the Japanese. Although the prevalence of childhood obesity has reached a plateau in recent years, it has become one of the major health concerns, since childhood obesity predisposes a person to adulthood obesity and obesity-related diseases. Abraham and Nordsieck (1960) observed that overweight children tended to become overweight adults more often than children of average weight, and Charney et al. (1976) reported that infant weight correlated strongly with adult weight independently of other factors considered. Moreover, from the result of their cohort study, Stark et al. (1981) suggested that overweight children were more likely to remain overweight than their contemporaries of normal weight were to become overweight. The Japanese experience predicts that childhood obesity will emerge as one of the serious health problems in Asian countries which are undergoing rapid economic growth. This paper is an exploratory study into the previously unexamined area of overnutrition of children in Malaysia. The aim of the study is to compare the body mass index (BMI) distributions of urban preschool children of two groups in Malaysia, with that of preschool children in Japan as a reference. Special attention is given to thedifferences and similarities of their life activities and consumption of commercial foods. In Malaysia, suburban areas are currently experiencing rapid urbanization as part of the ongoing economic development. The lifestyle of the urban people, including that of children, is strongly affected by the pace of urbanization, and also by the west