86% of Malaysians spend at least 6 hours sitting at desks

It's no surprise that one in three Malaysians are overweight since a majority of Malaysia's workforce lead largely sedentary lifestyles.

According to Herbalife's Nutrition At Work survey polling 5,500 full-time workers across the Asia Pacific region, 86% of Malaysia’s workforce lead largely sedentary lifestyles – putting them at risk of obesity.

The survey found that nine out of 10 Malaysian workers (86%) spend at least six hours a day sitting at their desk. At the same time, 86% of the workforce exercise less than three times a week.

To make things worse, about 70% of workers get less than 30 minutes of physical activity a day at their workplace.

Furthermore, some of them don't even get away from their desks to get lunch - with five out of 10 workers admitting to eating lunch at their work desk.

"This suggests a significantly worrying trend locally, further amplifying the recent survey results in which Malaysia was dubbed as the fattest," the report wrote.

Breaking down the results into gender, the survey found that local females are more likely to spend more time at their desks than local makes.

Almost seven in 10 (67%) of Malaysian females revealed that they spend between 6-9 hours behind the desks daily, compared to 64% of their male counterparts who said they spend the similar amount of time at their desks daily.

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It found that by generation, Millennials led a more sedentary lifestyle as compared to non-Millennials.

The survey revealed that 70% of Millennials are likely to spend between 6-9 hours at their desks daily as opposed to 64% of non- millennials.

Additionally, 52% of Millennials are likely to eat at their desks between 2-5 days in a week compared to 45% of non-millennials.

Interestingly, 66% of Millennials revealed that they would be more encouraged to stay active if it was embedded into their company culture.

“The way we live and work has seen a dramatic change due to the influence of technology. The survey reaffirms this, in which a majority of Malaysia’s workforce lead a predominantly sedentary lifestyle," said Sridhar Rajagopalan, sub-regional general manager of Herbalife Malaysia and Singapore.

"It is possible to work towards a fitter and healthier Malaysia, whether it’s inculcating positive nutrition or simply incorporating some form of activity into daily life,” he added.

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