One in six Indonesians Prone to Obesity and Diabetes

As many as 47.9 million Indonesians consume excessive amounts of sugar. If this habit persists and is not balanced with physical activity, it can lead to obesity and diabetes.

KOMPAS/PRIYOMBODO

A medical officer from the Petukangan Selatan Health Center takes a blood sample to check cholesterol, uric acid, and blood sugar for an elderly person taking part in a health check at the Elderly Posyandu in the Residents Hall RW 08, Bumi Pesanggrahan Mas housing, Petukangan Selatan, South Jakarta, Saturday (14/ 1/2023).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Kompas’data journalism team compared data on Indonesians’ daily consumption of food and beverages with their daily calorie intake using micro data from the 2021 Statistics Indonesia (BPS) national socioeconomic survey (Susenas). The results showed that 47.9 million people, or 17.6 percent of the country’s population of 271 million, consumed excessive amounts of sugar.

This means that one in six Indonesians have dietary habits that increase the risk of obesity and diabetes.

People who consume excess sugar have sugar consumption levels that exceed 10 percent of their daily calorie intake. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the ideal rate of sugar consumption is 10 percent of the daily calorie intake.

Each person’s caloric need varies depending on their height, weight and activity. According to the 2021 BPS survey, the daily calorie intake among Indonesians ranges from 1,000 to 4,000 kilocalories (kcal). Different caloric needs affect the sugar intake.

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For example, if a person’s daily calorie intake is 2,000 kcal, they should consume only 200 kcal, or 50 grams, of sugar each day. For a person with a daily calorie intake of only 1,500 kcal, then only 37.5 grams of sugar should be consumed. Each gram of sugar is equivalent to 4 kcal.

The survey also found that the daily calorie consumption of an average Indonesian is 2,244 kcal. To illustrate, the average daily consumption of food and drink among Indonesians is equivalent to eating one serving of chicken porridge and bakwan (vegetable fritters), which provide 509 kcal and 1.24 grams of sugar, and a glass of unsweetened tea (2 kcal) for breakfast, nasi Padang (Minang-style rice with side dishes) providing 664 kcal and 6 grams of sugar with orange juice (112 kcal and 20.83 grams of sugar) for lunch, fried bananas and iced coffee in the afternoon (289 kcal and 23.92 g of sugar) and finally, fried rice with egg and prawn crackers for dinner (602 kcal and 2.86 g of sugar).

Together, this results in a daily calorie intake of 2,178 kcal with a total sugar intake of 53.49 g.

To find out how many people consume excess sugar, Kompas calculated the total sugar consumption for 27 sweet foods and beverages for each person from 339,670 sample respondents in the BPS survey. This figure was then compared with each respondent’s daily calorie intake. If a respondent’s sugar intake exceeded the threshold of 10 percent of their daily calorie consumption, the respondent was marked as a consumer of excess sugar.

According to these calculations, 75,939 survey respondents consume excess sugar, representing 47.9 million Indonesians.

ADRYAN YOGA PARAMADWYA

Dozens of people exercise at Gasibu Field, Bandung City, West Java, Tuesday (4/4/2023). Sports activities in the month of Ramadan before breaking the fast are effective in burning fat in the body.

Low physical activity

Data from the 2021 BPS survey also found that Indonesians have low physical activity. Only 27.14 percent of the total population aged 5 years and above exercise regularly.

Data from a large-scale study of 717,527 people in 111 countries totaling 68 million daily activity records, which was conducted by researchers from Stanford University in the United States, showed that Indonesia ranked fourth among countries with the lowest physical activity, after El Salvador, Honduras and Pakistan. The study, titled ”Large-scale physical activity data reveal worldwide activity inequality”, was published in the journal Nature.

Indonesians take an average of 3,513 steps daily, which is only around 51 percent of the level in the region with the highest average physical activity, namely Hong Kong with 6,880 steps. Even in Southeast Asia, Indonesians are laziest, falling behind Vietnam (3,643 steps), Brunei Darussalam (3,823), Myanmar (3,878), Malaysia (3,963), the Philippines (4,008), Thailand (4,764) and Singapore (5,674).

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Considering that 47.9 million Indonesians consume excess sugar and 73.86 percent do not exercise regularly, it is estimated that at least 34.89 million people with excess sugar consumption are at risk of obesity.

According to the results of a study titled “Beyond 2020: Modeling obesity and diabetes prevalence” by A.G. Ampofo and E.B. Boateng from the University of Newcastle that explores obesity and diabetes data in 183 countries, the prevalence of obesity-driven diabetes was around 18.6 percent in 2014 and is expected rise to 26.2 percent in 2030. This means that 22.4 percent of the 34.89 million Indonesians at risk of obesity will develop diabetes in 2022. Hence, 7.8 million Indonesians are at high risk of diabetes but have not yet been diagnosed.

Concerning

Bad eating habits accompanied by a lifestyle that does not include physical exercise are among the causes that increase the chances of developing chronic diseases, such as diabetes. Genetic factors and cholesterol levels also increase this risk.

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the excess sugar consumption was concerning. According to him, Indonesians tended to consume a lot of carbohydrates, usually white rice and instant noodles.

“What is dangerous is that we are already eating rice and other carbohydrates, [so] we don’t need to consume more sugar,” he said on Tuesday (11/4/2023).

Consuming excess sugar, coupled with minimal physical activity, can lead to obesity.

The main concern of consuming excess sugar is how it increases the risk of diabetes, known as the mother of all diseases. Diabetes can lead to complications such as stroke, heart attacks and kidney disease.

“Consuming excess sugar, coupled with minimal physical activity, can lead to obesity,” said Dr. Em Yunir, a staff member of the metabolic endocrine division at Cipto Mangunkusumo hospital.

According to him, excess sugar consumption can be offset by increasing physical activity. People weighing 60 kg with an excess of 200 kcal per day should walk at least 5 kilometers over an hour. (PUT/SPW/XNA).

This article was translated by Kesya Adhalia.