More than half of the Bruneian teenagers are overweight and obese.

This was stated by Dr. Hajah Norhayati binti Haji Kassim, Senior Medical Officer (Grade 1) at the Health Promotion Centre of the Ministry of Heath yesterday.

Speaking at the finals of the Speech Contest 2016 for pre-university as well as technical and vocational school students, she said according to the Global School Health Survey conducted by the Ministry of Health in 2014, 52.6 per cent of teenagers aged 13-17 years are overweight and obese.

The survey also found that 46.4 per cent of teenagers drink carbonated drinks at least once a day. This is a concern because one can of carbonated beverage typically contain nine-12 teaspoons of sugar.

Meanwhile, 87.3 per cent of teenagers were found not meeting the recommendations of the National Physical Activity Guidelines for children and teenagers for 60 minutes of activity every day. In terms of mental health, 21.1 per cent of teenagers have been bullied.

Dr. Hajah Norhayati added that the latest Global Youth Tobacco Survey 2013 has also shown that 10.2 per cent of teenagers aged 13-15 years smoke and 80 per cent of them ever tried to quit smoking. Nearly 40 per cent of teenagers are exposed to passive smoking in their homes.

She noted that such risk factors need to be addressed from the outset by all parties involved. With the contest, students and teenagers are given the opportunity to advocate and share health recommendations which are useful and readily accepted.

The Speech Contest 2016 is a project organised by the Health Promotion Centre of the Ministry of Health, the Co-Curriculum Education Department of the Ministry of Education and Radio Televisyen Brunei.

The guest of honour was Dr. Ong Sok King, Acting Medical Superintendent, Public Health Services of the Ministry of Health.

This year, the competition is held to mark the World Health Day celebrated annually every April 7, carried the theme 'Healthy Life Style'.

Seventeen students took part in the preliminary round, of whom eight were selected for the final round yesterday. Awang Muhamad Arif Al Hafiz bin Haji Abdul Rahman from Hassanal Bolkiah Arabic Boys Secondary School clinched the top spot in the male's category while Dayangku Nurhannie binti Pengiran Julkipli from Institute of Brunei Technical Education's (IBTE) Sultan Saiful Rijal Technical College emerged as the champion in the female category. She was also nominated as the best overall winner.

Source:
@BRUDIRECT.COM

by BruDirect.com

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