Part 1

Upon searching what is the current health issue among women in Malaysia, I learned that women in Malaysia actually have a high risk of having diabetes mellitus. The prevalence between males and females for both overall and undiagnosed diabetes mellitus is 9.1% and 9.2% respectively (Tee & Yap, 2017). That might be not a lot of differences. However, according to WHO, the number of diabetes deaths among women are higher compare to men. Among the ages of 30 – 69, females recorded 1,210 number of death while 1,170 among males. For the ages 70 and above, 1,260 for females while 1,070 for males – in the years of 2016. As we know, overweight and obesity are the major factor for types 2 diabetes mellitus. Based on the statistics that given by WHO in the year of 2016, females recorded higher prevalence compared to males in both overweight and obesity. For overweight, prevalence among women is 38.3% while 36.2% for males. The prevalence of obesity in females is 15.3% while in males is 10.3%. When we talked about overweight and obesity, dietary practices and physical activity will follow next as unhealthy dietary practices and sedentary lifestyle are the main causes of overweight and obesity. Generally, most Malaysian actually struggles to meet the dietary requirement especially for fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts food groups (Tee & Yap, 2017). For physical activity, the prevalence among females (57.2%) is higher compared to males (45.6%) (WHO, 2016). 

Part 2

From the statistic that given, diabetes might not be the most gender discriminate disease. However, women are more vulnerable to diabetes due to the ricks factors that effecting diabetes. “Globally, there are 199 million women living with diabetes, and this disease is reported to be the ninth leading cause of death in women around the world, causing 2.1 million deaths each year” (Chin, 2017). In public health standpoint, diabetes can actually lead to many types of diseases. This included cardiovascular diseases, kidney diseases and also depression. “Diabetic women have a two-fold increase in risk of coronary heart disease compared with their male counterparts, and nearly four times the risk for coronary heart disease death. There is evidence showing kidney disease is another complication of diabetes that affects women more than men as diabetic women normally suffer from lower level of estrogen, which is associated with kidney disease. Additionally, depression is reported twice as common in women, as it is in men, with diabetes” (Chin, 2017). When we look in cultural standpoint, the real roots of diabetes are dietary practices and also physical activity. Changing a diet and lifestyle is not an easy thing to do. It involves thing that we usually eat in our culture and also the role that giving to us as a certain group. “Most Malaysian adults are not practicing the dietary guidelines of balance and moderation for the recommended intakes of major food groups, in addition to being only moderately physically active” (Tee & Yap, 2017).

Reference:

Chin, K. (2017). Women urged to take fight to Diabetes. Retrieved from https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/letters/2017/11/303349/women-urged-take-fight-diabetes

Tee, E., & Yap, R. (2017). Type 2 diabetes mellitus in Malaysia: current trends and risk factors. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 71(7), 844-849. 

WHO. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.who.int/diabetes/country-profiles/mys_en.pdf?ua=1.