“24-Hour Eateries Encourage Malaysians to Have Unhealthy Lifestyle,” Doctor Says

Every true blue Malaysian loves eating and it’s practically our favourite thing to do. One of the most awesome things that we miss whenever we go overseas is the absence of 24-hour eateries that is a part of our culture.

However, when news broke out that our government was thinking of implementing a policy to abolish 24-hour eateries, we were noticeably upset by it. Bye bye supper!

Source: mmo

This move is supposedly part of a health policy and according to Sinar Harian, stopping 24-hour eateries is meant to be good for our health. But we love food!

Dr Zubaidi Ahmad, a member of Pusat Pertubuhan Doktor-doktor Islam Malaysia (Perdim) said that these eateries are making Malaysians fall into the trap of eating unhealthily.

He said that this would encourage us to eat late and choose unhealthy food that is high in fats and carbohydrates such as burgers, fries and carbonated drinks. “There are many 24-hour restaurants in the cities, not including those eateries that open until 1am or 2am. This would cause many people to eat late because of the convenience of getting these processed, unhealthy food,” he added.

Source: kulik kamera

Dr Zubaidi says that this is a very bad habit that could be detrimental to our health and may cause many problems.

“When we eat at irregular times, most of the food that we eat will be converted and stored as fat. This will lead to obesity which can be linked to the abundance of 24-hour eateries we have,” he explained.

He says that we should all fully support this policy of closing all eateries by 12am that was proposed by the Ministry of Health… because, well, it is actually good for our health.

Source: back home

He said, “Many people choose to go there to hang out, chit chat and even watch football games when actually the 24-hour eateries are meant for people who do not have time to eat during normal dinner hours. Plus, we are worried that this will encourage parents to bring their children to eat and sleep late which is bad.”

Of course having a healthy lifestyle is important, but maybe there are other suggestions that the ministry could look into as well! Because no one ain’t touchin’ our mamak stores!

Also read: Chickens in Malaysia Revealed to be Raised with Antibiotics, Cause Great Health Concerns