PENAMPANG: The Ministry of Health hopes its ‘Berjalan 10,000 Langkah Merdeka’ (Independence 10,000 Step Walk) will encourage more people to adopt a healthy lifestyle.
The rising number of people with serious health problems that are linked to obesity is a good reason for everyone to start walking 10,000 steps daily, which is more than six kilometres, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai when launching the nationwide programme at the Taman Ujana Rimba Tropika here yesterday.
“Statistics show that the number of people suffering from high cholesterol problems had increased from 20 percent in the year 2006 to a total of 35.1 percent in 2001.
“This means one third of Malaysia’s population are high in cholesterol and another one third are suffering from high blood pressure. This goes to show that the state of health among Malaysians are deteriorating,” said Liow.
“However, it is within our ability to prevent this from getting worse through adopting a healthy lifestyle, and one way of doing that is by walking 10,000 steps a day.”
Liow said that other than promoting a healthy lifestyle among the people, the programme is also part of the ministry’s effort to inculcate patriotism as it is held in conjunction with the country’s 55th year of Independence celebration.
Apart from being a Merdeka programme, the ‘Berjalan 10,000 Langkah Merdeka’ was also aimed to be entered into the Malaysian Book of Records as the most number of public participation in a health campaign carried out simultaneously, which was successfully met yesterday.
In Sabah, the programme was also held in 10 other districts, namely Tawau, Lahad Datu, Kinabatangan, Sandakan, Kudat, Beluran, Tuaran, Beaufort, Keningau and Papar.
Some 5,000 took part in the programme in Penampang, which saw participants from the Health Departments, hospitals, clinics, as well as public universities and private colleges, walking a total distance of 6.9 kilometres from the Taman Ujana Rimba Tropika to the SJK C Shan Tao.
Other programmes held were exhibitions, talks, health screenings, colouring contest and lucky draws.