Background: Depression is on the rise and has become a significant concern for public health. Limited research has explored the connection between dietary patterns and depression. This investigation aimed to examine how dietary behaviours relate to depression among adolescents attending school in Malaysia. Methods: The study utilized data from the National School-Based Health Survey 2022, a nationwide survey involving school-going adolescents aged 13–17, with a total of 33,523 participants from 239 schools. To assess depression, the study employed the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), considering a score of 10 or higher as indicative of depression. Dietary behaviours were assessed using a validated self-administered questionnaire adapted from the World Health Organization's Global School-based Student Health Survey. Descriptive analysis and complex sample logistic regression were carried out using SPSS version 26.0. Results: The study revealed a 26.9% overall prevalence of depression, with higher risks among female adolescents (AOR 2.71, 95% CI 2.51, 2.92) and those in higher grades. Malays (AOR 1.71, 95% CI 1.41, 2.07), Other Bumiputeras (AOR 1.69, 95% CI 1.32, 2.17), and Others (AOR 1.63, 95% CI 1.16, 2.30) had elevated odds of depression compared to Indians. Healthy dietary habits, like consuming less than two servings of fruits daily, correlated with depression (AOR 1.44 95% CI 1.35, 1.54). Additionally, unhealthy dietary behaviours such as fast food consumption (AOR 1.73 [95% CI 1.55, 1.93]) and carbonated soft drink intake (AOR 1.59 [95% CI 1.48, 1.70]) were positively associated with depression. Conclusions: One out of every four Malaysian adolescents was identified to experience depression. Depression was linked to several factors, such as being female, belonging to higher grade levels, identifying as Malays, Other Bumiputeras, or belonging to other ethnicities, and participating in the consumption of fast food, carbonated soft drinks, and fruits. To address these observations, it is crucial to formulate effective public health programmes that prioritize adolescent mental health and encourage the adoption of healthy eating habits.

Background Overweight and obesity among adults are a growing global public health threat and an essential risk factor for various noncommunicable diseases. Although intermittent fasting is a generally new dietary approach to weight management that has been increasingly practiced worldwide, the effectiveness of 2 days per week dry fasting remains unclear. Objective The Cardiometabolic and Anthropometric Outcomes of Intermittent Fasting study aims to determine the cardiometabolic, anthropometric, dietary intake, and quality of life changes among civil servants with overweight and obesity, following combined intermittent fasting and healthy plate (IFHP) and healthy plate (HP) and explore the participants’ experiences. Methods We designed a mixed methods quasi-experimental study to evaluate the effectiveness of the IFHP and HP methods among adults with overweight and obesity. A total of 177 participants were recruited for this study, of which 91 (51.4%) were allocated to the IFHP group and 86 (48.6%) to the HP group. The intervention comprised 2 phases: supervised (12 weeks) and unsupervised (12 weeks). Data collection was conducted at baseline, after the supervised phase (week 12), and after the unsupervised phase (week 24). Serum and whole blood samples were collected from each participant for analysis. Data on sociodemographic factors, quality of life, physical activity, and dietary intake were also obtained using questionnaires during data collection. Results Most of the participants were female (147/177, 83.1%) and Malay (141/177, 79.7%). The expected outcomes of this study are changes in body weight, body composition, quality of life, physical activity, dietary intake, and cardiometabolic parameters such as fasting blood glucose, 2-hour postprandial blood glucose, hemoglobin A1c, fasting insulin, and lipid profile. Conclusions The Cardiometabolic and Anthropometric Outcomes of Intermittent Fasting study is a mixed methods study to evaluate the effectiveness of combined IFHP and HP interventions on cardiometabolic and anthropometric parameters and explore participants’ experiences throughout the study. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05034653; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05034653 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR1-10.2196/33801

Objective: This study aims to determine the prevalence of poor self-rated health (SRH) in Malaysia and its association with sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle behavior, chronic diseases, depression, and functional limitations in activities of daily living (ADLs) among older persons. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting, participants, and outcome measures: We used data from the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2018, a nationwide community-based study. This study was conducted using a two-stage stratified cluster sampling design. Older persons were defined as persons aged 60 years and above. SRH was assessed using the question “How do you rate your general health?” and the answers were “very good”, “good”, “moderate”, “not good”, and “very bad”. SRH was then grouped into two categories; “Good” (very good and good) and “Poor” (moderate, not good, and very bad). Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were conducted using SPSS version 25.0. Results: The prevalence of poor SRH among older persons was 32.6%. Poor SRH was significantly related to physical inactivity, depression, and limitations in activities of daily living (ADLs). Multiple logistic regression revealed that poor SRH was positively associated with those who had depression (aOR 2.92, 95% CI:2.01,4.24), limitations in ADLs (aOR 1.82, 95% CI: 1.31, 2.54), low individual income (aOR 1.66, 95% CI:1.22, 2.26), physical inactivity (aOR 1.40, 95% CI:1.08, 1.82), and hypertension (aOR 1.23, 95% CI:1.02, 1.49). Conclusions: Older persons with depression, limitations in ADLs, low income, physical inactivity, and hypertension were significantly associated with poor SRH. These findings provide information to aid health personnel and policymakers in the development and implementation of health promotion and disease prevention programs, as well as adequate evidence in planning different levels of care for the older population.

Background: Anaemia continues to be a global public health burden affecting all age groups, particularly children. Indigenous people, including the Orang Asli (OA) population in Malaysia, are at risk of anaemia due to the vast disparities in social determinants of health in their population compared to the non-indigenous population. Objectives: This review aimed to identify the prevalence and risk factors of anaemia among OA children in Malaysia and analyse the knowledge gaps. Methods: A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus and Google Scholar databases. This review followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. Results: This review identified six studies involving the participation of OA children from eight subtribes residing in Peninsular Malaysia. The overall prevalence of anaemia among OA children ranged from 21.6 to 80.0%, with iron deficiency anaemia prevalence at 34.0%. The risk factors of anaemia among OA children reported from one study in this review were being younger than ten years old children (AOR 2.11 (95% CI 1.23, 3.63)) and moderate to heavy Ascaris infections (AOR 2.05 (95% CI 1.12, 3.76)). There was no data from OA children from certain age groups and subtribes. Additionally, there is a paucity of data on risk factors for anaemia among OA children from the currently available evidence. Conclusion: The prevalence of anaemia among OA children poses a moderate to severe public health concern. Therefore, more comprehensive studies in the future are needed to address the gaps identified in this review, primarily regarding anaemia risk factors. This data would encourage policymakers in devising effective national prevention strategies to improve morbidity and mortality among OA children in the future.

BackgroundThe cultural and genetic diversity of the Southeast Asian population has contributed to distinct cardiovascular disease risks, incidence, and prognosis compared to the Western population, thereby raising concerns about the accuracy of predicted risks of existing prognostic models.ObjectivesWe aimed to evaluate the predictive performances of validated, recalibrated, and developed prognostic risk prediction tools used in the Southeast Asian population with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) events for secondary eventsMethodsWe searched MEDLINE and Cochrane Central databases until March 2022. We included prospective and retrospective cohort studies that exclusively evaluated populations in the Southeast Asian region with a confirmed diagnosis of an AMI event and evaluated for risk of secondary events such as mortality, recurrent AMI, and heart failure admission. The CHARMS and PRISMA checklists and PROBAST for risk of bias assessment were used in this review.ResultsWe included 7 studies with 11 external validations, 3 recalibrations, and 3 new models from 4 countries. Both short- and long-term outcomes were assessed. Overall, we observed that the external validation studies provided a good predictive accuracy of the models in the respective populations. The pooled estimate of the C-statistic in the Southeast Asian population for GRACE risk score is 0.83 (95%CI 0.72–0.90, n = 6 validations) and for the TIMI risk score is 0.80 (95%CI: 0.772–0.83, n = 5 validations). Recalibrated and new models demonstrated marginal improvements in discriminative values. However, the method of predictive accuracy measurement in most studies was insufficient thereby contributing to the mixed accuracy effect. The evidence synthesis was limited due to the relatively low quality and heterogeneity of the available studies.ConclusionBoth TIMI and GRACE risk scores demonstrated good predictive accuracies in the population. However, with the limited strength of evidence, these results should be interpreted with caution. Future higher-quality studies spanning various parts of the Asian region will help to understand the prognostic utility of these models better.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?%20RecordID=228486.

Adult obesity and overweight pose a substantial risk to global public health and are associated with various noncommunicable diseases. Although intermittent fasting (IF) is increasingly used as a relatively new dietary strategy for weight loss, the effectiveness of 2 days per week of dry fasting remains unknown. Objective: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a combined dry IF and healthy plate (IFHP) and healthy plate (HP) intervention in improving anthropometric outcomes and body composition. Methods: This nonrandomized controlled trial involved 177 adults who were overweight and obese. Among them, 91 (51.4%) were allocated to the IFHP group and 86 (48.6%) were allocated to the HP group. The overall study duration was 6 months (October 2020 to March 2021). The intervention was divided into 2 phases: supervised (3 months) and unsupervised (3 months). The data were collected at baseline, after the supervised phase (month 3), and after the unsupervised phase (month 6). Anthropometric (weight, height, waist circumference, and hip circumference) and body composition (body fat percentage, body fat mass, skeletal muscle mass, and visceral fat area) data were measured at all 3 data collection points. Sociodemographic data were obtained using a questionnaire at baseline. Results: Most participants were female (147/177, 83.1%) and Malay (141/177, 79.7%). After 3 months, there were significant reductions in weight (difference −1.68; P<.001), BMI (difference −0.62; P<.001), body fat percentage (difference −0.921; P<.001), body fat mass (difference −1.28; P<.001), and visceral fat area (difference −4.227; P=.008) in the IFHP group, whereas no significant changes were observed in the HP group. Compared to baseline, participants in the IFHP group showed a significant decrease in weight (difference −1.428; P=.003), BMI (difference −0.522; P=.005), body fat percentage (difference −1.591; P<.001), body fat mass (difference −1.501; P<.001), visceral fat area (difference −7.130; P<.001), waist circumference (difference −2.304; P=.001), and hip circumference (difference −1.908; P=.002) at month 6. During the unsupervised phase, waist (IFHP difference −3.206; P<.001, HP difference −2.675; P=.004) and hip (IFHP difference −2.443; P<.001; HP difference −2.896; P<.001) circumferences were significantly reduced in both groups (P<.01), whereas skeletal muscle mass (difference 0.208; P=.04) and visceral fat area (difference −2.903; P=.003) were significantly improved in the IFHP group only. No significant difference in the between-group comparison was detected throughout the intervention Conclusions: A combined IFHP intervention was effective in improving anthropometric outcomes and body composition in adults with overweight and obesity.