By Dr Tee E Siong

THE bad news is: overweight and obesity increases your risk to coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and high blood pressure. It also aggravates arthritis and breathing problems. More bad news is that overweight and obesity causes certain cancers.

The good news is: overweight and obesity is largely preventable. There is therefore no option - measures must be taken to prevent overweight or obesity. It is particularly important to prevent our children from excessive weight gain. An overweight child is more likely to become an overweight or obese adult. Prevention must therefore start from childhood.

The solution is: maintain body weight in a healthy range. This is the second key message of the Malaysian Dietary Guidelines (MDG) 2010 and is the focus of this instalment of NutriScene.

The MDG 2010 is a set of advisory statements that aim to promote appropriate food habits, physical activity, and wiser food choices.