Metabolic Health

6 in 10 Malaysian Adults Are Overweight or Obese: What the 2025 National Health Screening Numbers Mean for You

19 August 20265 min read19 August 2026

Editorial article by the Seimbang team — every figure is taken from the sources listed at the end.

In September 2025 the Health Minister released the results of that year's National Health Screening Initiative. They confirmed what clinicians have been seeing: the share of Malaysian adults who are overweight or obese has kept rising. This article sets out the numbers as reported, puts them next to earlier surveys, and explains how to check where you stand — using the BMI cut-offs that apply to Asian populations.

The numbers as reported

According to The Star's report of the Minister's remarks, the 2025 National Health Screening Initiative (NHSI), conducted from January to September, screened about 1.2 million adult Malaysians. About 30.9% — more than 254,000 people — were identified as obese, and another 30.8% as overweight; together, over 60% of those screened.

The same report placed this against earlier data: the 2023 NHSI found 53.5% overweight or obese, and the 2023 National Health and Morbidity Survey found 54.4% of Malaysian adults overweight or obese, described as a sharp rise of 22% since 2011. The Minister put the annual cost of obesity-related healthcare spending, productivity losses and premature mortality at RM64 billion.

Two cautions when reading these figures

First, NHSI figures describe people who came forward to be screened, not a random sample of the whole population, so they are not directly interchangeable with survey estimates such as the NHMS. Second, the report does not state which BMI cut-offs were used to classify people as overweight or obese; the WHO recommends lower cut-offs for Asian populations than the standard international scale, and which scale is used changes the headline percentages.

Where do you stand? Use the Asian cut-offs

BMI is your weight in kilograms divided by your height in metres squared. On the standard WHO scale, overweight starts at 25 and obesity at 30. For Asian populations the WHO Expert Consultation (The Lancet, 2004) recommended lower public-health action points: overweight from 23 and obesity from 27.5, because health risks such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease rise at lower BMI levels in Asian populations.

You can calculate yours in a few seconds with our BMI calculator, which uses the Asian cut-offs. If your BMI is 23 or above with a weight-related condition, or 27.5 or above, that is a reasonable point to speak with a doctor about your options — which range from structured lifestyle change to medically supervised treatment.

Frequently asked questions

What percentage of Malaysians are obese in 2025?

According to the Health Minister's remarks reported by The Star on 24 September 2025, about 30.9% of the roughly 1.2 million adults screened under NHSI 2025 were obese and another 30.8% overweight — over 60% combined.

Is the trend getting worse?

The reported figures suggest so: 53.5% overweight or obese in the 2023 NHSI, 54.4% in the 2023 NHMS (a 22% rise since 2011), and over 60% among those screened in 2025.

What BMI counts as obese for Malaysians?

Using the WHO cut-offs recommended for Asian populations, overweight starts at BMI 23 and obesity at 27.5, compared with 25 and 30 on the standard scale.

Sources

Disclaimer: Figures are as reported in the sources cited above; we have not independently verified the underlying data. This article is for information only and is not medical advice.

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