KLANG: A large number of Malaysians, despite being diabetics, remain mired in unhealthy eating habits due to various factors, including the country's hospitality culture, which revolves around food.

Yong Lai Mee, who is a diabetes care services manager at a private hospital here, said many social and cultural activities in Malaysia tend to be food-centric.

"Even business meetings tend to revolve around food, and the habit here is to eat heartily in order not to waste food and offend your host. Malaysians also tend not to refrain from indulging or turn away when offered food," said Yong.

She said children who suffered from Type 2 diabetes also succumbed to poor eating habits due to the variety of unhealthy food available at school canteens.

"The food at canteens is usually noodles or fried food, and there isn't much choice offered for diabetics," said Yong.

Clinical dietitian Rozanna M. Rosly said easy availability of fast convenience foods and escalating prices of fruits and vegetables made it difficult for people to sustain healthy food choices.

To make matters worse, people were also working more hours to make ends meet and eating less home-cooked food.

"Food outlets should provide complimentary plain water as preferred drinks or allow water bottles to be brought into their premises.

"Set meals must also include vegetables, and there must also be healthy options in the menus with mandatory nutritional information labelling," added Rozanna.

She said convenience stores and grocery shops must also offer healthy food choices or place choice stickers on their foodstuffs.

Rozanna suggested a targeted education programme by the Health Ministry at general practitioner clinics with reading materials that can be easily printed or downloaded.

Rozanna said food portion control was fundamental with the 'quarter, quarter, half' concept of having half the plate for fruits and vegetables, one-quarter for carbohydrates, and one-quarter for protein sources.

Meanwhile, consultant endocrinologist Dr Malathi Karupiah said there was a need for a broader education on overall eating habits as opposed to just promoting reduced sugar intake.

"This includes teaching people how to balance a plate, read food labels, and understand hidden sugars,'' explained Dr Malathi.

She added community-based programmes such as cooking workshops, exercise groups, and workplace health initiatives would also help Malaysians acquire knowledge to cultivate healthy eating habits.

Dr Malathi also dispelled the 'dangerous' belief that one can eat anything as long as they take their medication religiously.

"Medications are important, but they cannot undo the damage of poor eating habits.

"Another myth is that "brown sugar or honey is healthier".

"In reality, all sugars affect blood sugar similarly, even fruits, which are healthy, need portion control," she said.

Dr Malathi narrated how she often told her patients that managing diabetes was like running a marathon.

"Small, consistent lifestyle changes such as cutting down on sugary drinks, walking after meals and eating more vegetables have powerful long-term effects.

"Medication is one tool, but prevention and control really begin with daily choices," she added.

Dr Malathi reminded everyone that diabetes was not inevitable simply because it ran in families.

"Lifestyle choices can delay or even prevent it," she added.