The #1 reason why Malaysians aren’t eating healthy is… not enough money?!

Alright, people! Jiggle those bellies and untie your teh o ais ikat tepi mangkuk, because the Gila Gula Survey 2024 results are in!

Last month, we asked ugaiz why it’s so hyucking hard to be healthy in Malaysia. Is it the syaitan friends leading you to temptation? Is it endless work and deadlines? Is it because a healthy diet is so expensive? Or is it simply because the mamak near our homes are so… yum?

After three weeks of surveying (from 18 Sep to 9 Oct), 1,031 of y’all stepped up and spilled the teh tarik on your daily habits! Thanks guys! But before we get to the meat of the article, here are some things you should know about the respondents:

• Slightly more women (55%) than men (43%) answered our survey, plus 2% others.
• Most of them are between 28 and 43 years old (58.5%), but we have representatives from each age group except those over 79 years old.
• Over half of our respondents identified as Chinese (52%), 28.2% as Malay or Bumiputera, 14% as Indians, and 5.6% as others.
• Most are urbanized, either living in big cities (48.1%) or in a nearby suburb (44.3%).

So now that we know what kind of people answered our survey, let’s get into our first finding, which has something to do with why it’s so hard to eat healthy…

1) Money is the #1 reason most Malaysians aren’t eating healthy

When we talk about dieting, it’s not just restricting portions and counting calories, but more like having healthy, well-balanced meals. And it seems that a majority of our respondents do want to eat healthy.

For instance, say that your workplace provides you with three healthy meals a day for free, would you eat that or eat somewhere else? Most of our respondents picked the free healthy meals, and it’s not just because Malaysians like free stuff. Not including the 26.4% who said they’d eat the meals to save money, 62% are very enthusiastic about the prospect of having healthy food served to them three times a day.

So why aren’t more Malaysians eating healthy then? Well, roughly 82% of our respondents report having problems when trying to eat healthy in real life, and their top problems are:

• Healthy food is so expensive, while unhealthy ones are so cheap and accessible (54.1%)
• Time, because then they have to shop for groceries and cook (49.6%)
• Malaysian food is so tasty, it is a crime to ignore it. (35.3%)

Yep, can’t spend money on healthy food, but also can’t spend time cooking your own food. What to do? Unhealthy but delicious Malaysian food lo.

Well, we make do with what we have, and when we asked our respondents what they’re currently doing to improve their health, the top three answers seem to be centered on fixing their diets:

• 62.7% are avoiding processed and unhealthy foods
• 54.2% are cutting down on sugar and carbs
• 39.7% are controlling the amount they eat

Seeing that everything in Malaysia is so sweet, it’s no surprise that sugar and processed foods are on a lot of our respondents’ minds. In fact…

2) Often order ‘kurang manis’? You’re far from alone

Less sugar, kurang manis, kosong; we’ve all probably heard it at some point or another when ordering drinks. If it’s not one of your friends, then it’s probably you.

We know it’s so prevalent because when we asked our respondents what their preferred sugar level is when ordering bubble tea, only 7.2% would choose the regular tahap kemanisan (100% sugar), while an even smaller 1.3% would ask for their drinks to be extra manis (100% sugar, add on brown sugar, less ice).

The majority? Half sugar, with over half of our respondents (51.9%) picking that option. Meanwhile, 39.6% would go for zero sugar in their drink.

Either way, it’s interesting to note that asking for less sugar seems to be more of a city kind of thing: 92% of our urban respondents either picked reduced sugar or no sugar at all, a bit higher than our rural respondents at 81.3%. Conversely, respondents who live in a kampung are almost three times more likely (18.8%) to ask for full sugar in their drinks compared to urban respondents (6.3%).

Maybe things are just sweeter in the city. Either way, it just shows that Malaysians are more inclined to take less sugar in their drinks nowadays. Unfortunately though, sweet drinks aren’t the only source of sugar, and perhaps worryingly…

3) Most Malaysians prefer sweet treats when stressed, while diabetics prefer carbs

Have you ever just felt so stressed, you need to munch on something to calm down? Well, when we asked our respondents what kind of snacks are their go-to stress reliever, barring the 18% who lose their appetites when they’re stressed, here are the most popular answers:

• Sweet treats, like cakes, soft drinks, biscuits, ice cream etc (28.2%)
• Savory snacks like cheese, pizza, chips etc (20.2%)
• Fried foods, like fried chicken, keropok lekor, nuggets, etc. (16.5%)

Cross-examining the data, some people do seem to like sweet stuff more than others. Women, for one, are more likely to go for sugar when stressed, with 35.5% of our female respondents picking sweet foods compared to only 21% of our guys, who seem to prefer fried foods, drinking, and non-fattening snacks like chewing gum and celery.

Of course, naturally we want to see whether diabetic people like sweets as well, but to our surprise, this is not the case. Of the section of our respondents who claim to be diabetic, only 2.1% of them picked sweet foods as their stress reliever. The most preferred snack for them seems to be carbs (think rice and breads), with 10.9% of them picking that option, quite high compared to other preferences like sweet treats, savory snacks (3.1%), and fried foods (6.8%).

It may not be obvious since they’re not sweet, but our bodies turn carbohydrates into sugar, so eating them will have an effect on your blood sugar levels (and consequently, your diabetes). So when it comes to carbs and straight up sugar, moderation is the key if you want to live a fuller, longer life.

And hey, speaking of a longer life…

4) 28 seems to be the age where people start wanting to live longer

Growing old is kind of a pain, and staying healthy to get there needs a lot of work.

With that in mind, one might wonder: would you rather have to diet and exercise and live a longer life, or just do enjoy a shorter life? As it turns out, most of our respondents (78.9%) chose the long, hard route, compared to only 21.1% who like their lives like this writer: short and fun.

So what kind of people would prefer a shorter life? For some reason, people in law (28.6%) and media/advertising (31%) picked this option more compared to people in other groups, as well as people working as blue collar workers (31.4%) and consultants (25.5%).

And of course, younger people. Gen Z respondents are the most likely (26.1%) to pick the short route, and the likelihood goes down as the age group gets older: 20.4% Millennials answered this, followed by 19.4% Gen X, and only 10.3% Baby Boomers. Looking at the whole picture, it seems that 28 is the golden age when people start to want to live longer.

So how do you live longer with less health problems then? One way is to sniff out health problems early through health checkups, but apparently…

5) Health checkups seems to be more of a rich people thing

Just like how regular servicing lessens the chance of your car randomly dying in the middle of the highway, health checkups lessens the chance of you suddenly getting a heart attack or something while you’re living your best life.

And thankfully, a significant portion of our respondents (33.7%) do go for regular health checkups, at least once a year. While the rest aren’t as regular (or even go at all), most (93.2% of our respondents) do think health checkups are important in some way.

• 44.7% think it’s important for their peace of mind
• 22.4% think it’s important if you’re at risk for certain diseases or past a certain age
• 26.1% know it’s important, but they’re scared to go in case something’s wrong with them

We can kind of relate with that last one. It can’t be denied that health checkups mean money, and if you turn out to have a health problem, the medical costs can be crippling… which is perhaps why income level seems to have an effect on how our respondents view health checkups.

For instance, respondents earning above RM10,000 monthly are more likely (62.8%) to think health checkups are important for their peace of mind, compared to those earning below that (44.2%).

On the other hand, those saying they’re scared to go for health checkups in case something’s wrong increases as you go down the income bracket – 23.3% for those earning between RM4,000-9,999, and 33.5% for those earning below RM4,000 – a lot higher than those earning above RM10,000 (16.8%).

Anyhoo, health checkups and diets are only part of a healthy lifestyle. There’s still exercise, and perhaps interestingly…

6) Old people seem to find it easier to exercise regularly

How many of you reading this actually exercise regularly? Well, except for the 25.5% of our respondents who don’t exercise, periodt;

• 32.2% exercise like, once a week,
• 34.6% exercise a few times a week, and
• 4% exercise seven days of the week!

Wah liao 7 days a week?! Who are these people? As you can probably guess from the title, they’re less likely to be the stereotypical gymbros, but senior citizens.

According to the data, respondents between the ages of 60-78 are more likely to exercise regularly than the other age groups, either several times a week (43.6%) or seven days a week (15.4%). We were surprised at first, but then again, there are a lot of uncles and aunties walking around doing tai chi and stuff.

We guess these people are probably retired, and have more time to focus on their health. This seems to be supported by the fact that when we asked our respondents what’s stopping them from exercising, the top three answers seem to suggest a hectic everyday life.

• 53.7% say they don’t have any energy left after handling everything else
• 49.2% say they can’t seem to summon the motivation and willpower for it
• 44.3% say no time to do it because they’re very busy

Other reasons, like not being able to afford gym memberships or equipment (15.3%), not having friends to exercise with (11.7%), and no facilities to exercise in (9.3%) rank significantly lower. And while we’re on the subject of exercising with friends…

7) Malaysians are slightly more likely to diet and exercise… if their friends do it too!

It can’t be denied that the people around us have some influence on our habits, but how much exactly? As it turns out, quite significantly.

When asked what they would do if their significant other decided to go on a no-sugar diet (like swearing off teh tarik… gasp!), the responses are mostly positive. In fact, roughly half (50.5%) of our respondents picked options that will change their lives for the better as well!

• 11.2% would remove all sugary temptations from the house, and
• 39.3% would participate in the diet as well.

Even if they’re not making changes to their own lifestyles, a majority of respondents would be encouraging to their partners in some way (46.4%), vs only a small minority who would be discouraging (3.3%)… like sabotaging their diets, for example.

The same goes for exercise. We asked them to pretend they’re at a new job where their colleagues have a habit of going to the gym after work. More than half (56.2%) would go to the gym as well if they’re invited, with the intention to start exercising seriously. Even if they’re not into exercising, another 9.8% would simply go because of the peer pressure. Well, getting to the gym is half of the battle, we guess.

But what about more mean interactions, like say, aunties and uncles commenting on your weight during family gatherings?

The results are less positive when it comes to healthy habits: only 15.8% would change their lifestyles to be in shape. Mostly our respondents would just laugh it off (43%), although a small number would be adversely affected emotionally, either by getting depressed and binge eating (4.5%), or complaining about it online (3.3%).

So to sum up, inviting people to do healthy stuff with you will work a lot better than bullying them into being healthy, and mean words about their weight may cause a small section of Malaysians to lose sleep over it. For the rest, they may lose sleep because of their bosses instead, because as it turns out…

8) Malaysians’ careers are messing up their sleep and exercise

Work is an inescapable part of living in this society, but there’s a thing such as too much work, which can affect your health. So how are our respondents’ careers affecting them? By making them sedentary, but at the same time not letting them rest and eat properly.

When asked what unhealthy habits they’ve picked up due to their work (or studies if they’re still students), the top answers are

• Not getting enough sleep (58.9%)
• Not getting enough physical activity (56%)
• Having to sit all day (47.5%)
• Eating whatever they can with no regard to balance (44.9%)
• Not being able to manage their stress (41.5%)

Some groups seem to be more prone to certain unhealthy habits more than others as well. For instance, guys are more likely (26%) to pick up or worsen their smoking, vaping, or drinking due to work compared to girls (6.4%).

Of interest are the blue-collar workers, who seem more prone to a lot of unhealthy habits. They’re more likely (34.3%) to drink too many sweet drinks compared to others (21%). Together with university students, they’re more likely to skip meals and just eat whatever’s convenient. Blue collar workers are also more likely (80%) to suffer from lack of sleep compared to others, a trait they share with consultants (70.2%).

Well, despite all these challenges Malaysians are facing…

At the end of the day, most of us will still try to be healthy

We get it. For a lot of Malaysians, us included, juggling all our responsibilities and still trying to squeeze in exercising, healthy eating, and getting enough sleep (among other things) can seem like an impossible dream.

But deep down, we still feel the need to be healthy, because when we asked our respondents how often they have to remind themselves to make healthier choices, only 17.2% don’t have to do that: being healthy comes naturally to them.

For the rest of the respondents, being healthy is a lifelong struggle to get better, and despite the constant conflict, only 5.8% have given up on their efforts. The majority (77%) are still trying to better themselves, even if they admit that they often fail and have to start again.

So when it comes to health, it’s okay to slip up a few times, because almost everybody does that. The important thing is to make continuous efforts in maintaining your health, as well as screening for diseases early so we can still do something about them.

What kind of diseases do I watch out for? It depends on your lifestyle and family genetics, but if you’re worried about diabetes since everything in Malaysia’s so sweet, Sunway Healthcare Group had developed a user-friendly and accessible diabetes risk calculator for their Know Diabetes campaign, and you can use it to identify your diabetes risk for free.

You can check out that diabetes risk calculator here, but using our average survey respondent as an example – 36 year-old Chinese female who eats vegetables and exercises sometimes, with low risk from parents – and regular BMI, we can see the risk is quite low. Fun!

And that’s the end of our survey. Thanks for coming along with us on this journey, and as usual, for the data nerds here are some interesting stats that we can’t fit elsewhere in the article.

• The people who would order 100% sugar in their bubble tea are more likely to be worried about diabetes, but don’t feel like there’s anything they can do about it. More of them (17.3%) chose this sweetness level compared to the average (7.2%). Hmmm.
• Career-wise, C-level managers are roughly twice as likely (50% of them) to turn to sweet treats when stressed, and of similar taste are stay at home parents (37.8%), unemployed people (35.5%), and freelancers (40%) for some reason.
• When faced with a diabetes scare, around 42% will plan to get a blood test. Roughly 14% of our respondents will turn to home remedies, and 28% won’t test but will start cutting sugar from their diet.
• Our respondents are quite the carefree bunch! When facing comments about their weight during a family gathering, 43% would just laugh it off because they’re at peace with themselves.
• When it comes to efforts to be healthy, guys tend to exercise more and enforce portion control on their food, cutting out sugar and carbs from their diet. Women tend to gravitate towards making home-cooked meals more, making sure they get enough sleep, going for regular checkups, and buying health supplements.
• Health and medical workers are the most likely to turn to fried foods when they’re stressed (23.4% of them vs 16.5% average).
• Malays are more likely to associate healthy food as being tasteless (23.7% vs 18.2% average) and boring (28.1% vs 22.3% average). However, they’re also more open towards the availability of healthy foods, being more likely to say that healthy foods can be found everywhere if we choose carefully (35.7% vs 28.2% average).
• The main motivations for our respondents to be healthy are living longer with less health problems (67.6%), avoiding high medical expenses (61.8%), and looking more attractive (45.4%).
• When asked to choose which is harder between exercising and dieting, the results are inconclusive – 36.9% said exercise, 33.7% said diet, and 29.5% said they’re equally hard.