Fifteen percent of women in Sri Lanka have been found to be obese, according to findings from an international survey cited by the Health Ministry on Sunday, the country’s most senior public-health official said in remarks released for National Nutrition Month.
Speaking at a media briefing in Colombo, Health Ministry Secretary Specialist Dr. Anil Jasinghe said the data highlights growing concerns over nutrition and lifestyle-related health risks in the country, NewsFirst reported. The Ministry has used the National Nutrition Month platform to surface diet- and weight-related disease burden alongside its standard maternal and child nutrition coverage.
A 15 percent female obesity rate is broadly in line with non-communicable disease (NCD) workstreams that the Health Ministry has been escalating in recent years. NCDs — cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer — already account for a large majority of deaths in Sri Lanka, and the Ministry has flagged obesity, hypertension and physical inactivity as central modifiable risk factors. The 15 percent reading also adds to the Ministry’s longer-running public-information cadence on health risk, which last week included the launch of a June 8–10 dengue control drive across 74 MOH divisions carrying community-level hygiene messaging alongside the vector clean-up.
Dr. Jasinghe did not break out the survey’s age distribution or the male obesity figure in the briefing as reported. The Ministry has typically released richer nutrition data through the Family Health Bureau and the Medical Research Institute over the following days during nutrition campaigns.
National Nutrition Month is a recurring annual public-information drive run by the Ministry’s nutrition coordination units, designed to push household-level behaviour change on diet and exercise. The Health Ministry has also used the platform in past cycles to lobby for stronger food-labelling and front-of-pack warning regulations under the Food Control Administration Unit.
Source: NewsFirst.
