The number of obese Brunei adults have doubled since the last study conducted 14 years ago, said the Minister of Health yesterday, citing latest statistics which are part of the preliminary results of Phase Two of the Brunei Darussalam Second National Health and Nutritional Status Survey 2009-2011.

At the opening ceremony of the In-Country Technical Consultation on the Development of a National Multi-sectoral Plan for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Prevention and Control (2013-2018), Adanan bih Mohd Yusof, the minister, said 27 percent of Brunei adults are obese compared to the global percentage of 12 percent.

For Phase One of the second national health and nutritional status survey, Adanan said results showed that 8.8 percent of Bruneian children under the age of five-years-old are overweight, and 3.3 percent of them are obese.

"What is more worrying is the eating habits of these children," said Adanan, pointing out that 8.7 percent of children aged one year and below are already consuming sweetened drinks, "when the percentage should be zero".

"Our children are also found to be consuming high amounts of saturated fats and sugary drinks while their intake of fibre and fruits and vegetables are too low," Adanan said.

"If we do nothing to change and adopt healthy lifestyle such as by changing the eating habits of our population, especially our children, our obesity rates may multiply in the next nutritional study and unfortunately so will NCDs."

Brunei has in place several interventions and initiatives in line with latest World Health Organisation (WHO) priorities in NCD prevention and control, the minister said, with regards to the formulation, planning and strengthening of an NCD strategy, plan of action and responses.

Among the initiatives the minister mentioned was that in Brunei, there is a strong and clear highest political commitment and acknowledgement on the importance of disease prevention and promotion of healthy lifestyle, and Brunei already has a multi-sectoral mechanism which is the National Committee on Health Promotion. The country also possesses key policy documents related to healthy lifestyle and NCD prevention which are already available such as the Health Promotion Blueprint and National Physical Activity Guidelines for Brunei Darussalam.

Despite the interventions and initiatives, there remain several challenges that contribute to the increasing prevalence of NCDs and their risk factors in Brunei Darussalam, said Adanan.

The challenges include easy access and availability of processed and energy-dense food to the people; increased sedentary lifestyles due to rapid urbanisation; an ageing population; increasing health care costs; and the need for more trained and highly skilled healthcare professionals to address the complexity of NCDs.

Civil society institutions and groups are uniquely placed to mobilise public awareness and support for NCD prevention and control efforts. Businesses can also make important contribution to addressing NCD prevention challenges, said Adanan.

"Responsible marketing to prevent the promotion of unhealthy diets and other harmful behaviours, and product reformulation to promote access to healthy food options are examples of approaches and actions that should be implemented by the corporate sector," Adanan said.

The challenges have to be comprehensively and systematically addressed in order to successfully reduce the escalating NCD burden. This should be the focus of the National Strategic Action Plan for NCD Prevention and Control, said the minister.

The In-Country Technical Consultation was launched yesterday by the Minister of Health at The Empire Hotel and Country Club.