Singaporeans getting fatter

While this is a localised problem in Singapore, obesity is a worldwide phenomenon...
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SINGAPORE: The problem of obesity is getting worse in Singapore.

The latest National Health Survey shows the obesity rate has increased from 6.9 per cent in 2004 to 10.8 per cent this year.

This year's National Healthy Lifestyle campaign is thus adopting a more holistic approach to help Singaporeans fight the flab.

More than 1,000 people turned up at the launch of the campaign by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.

They tried out the new Singapore Workout that includes traditional dance moves.

The message is for Singaporeans to get healthy together and combat obesity.

Health Promotion Board (HPB) CEO Lam Pin Woon said: "Based on the National Health Survey, the obesity rate is definitely on the upturn.

"This is very alarming for us; we do not want to be in the same situation like the other western countries where the obesity rate is that one in three of the population is obese.

"For now, our obesity rate is (about) 10 per cent - that's already very alarming, and we have to do something about it.

"This year, we want to create a social movement (and) get everyone to see the value of having a healthy weight (and) enjoy life by being healthy".

The HPB attributes the rise in obesity here to a lack of physical activity and a more sedentary lifestyle.

The National Health Survey found that 54.1 per cent of Singaporeans do not exercise.

Mr Neville Dotival, who lost about 18kg over three months to weigh 88.8kg, said: "I feel a lot better, I feel more energetic, I can play more with my kids.

He added that he is now fit enough to join his sons in activities during school events such as Sports Day.

HPB's Youth Health Division director K Vijaya said: "There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that chronic disease including obesity has its roots in pre-natal and the early developmental stages of one's life.

"As a result of this evidence, we are shifting our obesity prevention efforts further upstream, to the pre-natal and early years of one's life.

"We will be empowering parents to nurture health lifestyles, among their children.

"We are coming up with guidelines, strategies to provide a conducive environment for this purpose such as baby friendly hospitals that support breast feeding.

"In addition, we will be coming up with guidelines to prevent indiscriminate advertising of food and beverages to children".

Other efforts include getting those from the food industry to develop lower calorie food products and meals, to cut some 25 billion kilocalories from Singapore's food supply by 2013.

HPB also intends to roll out a nationwide Body Mass Index survey every two to three years to better monitor obesity trends.

-CNA/wk


From ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:Singaporeans getting fatter
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It is not just a childhood illness

CHICKEN POX
Elderly also at risk as they tend to have weaker immune system 

ESTHER NG, estherng@mediacorp.com.sg


CHICKEN pox is mild and patients usually make a full recovery, but it tends to be treated as a childhood illness. Which may explain why the elderly don't bother to get themselves vaccinated against it.

A check by Today with eight clinics in Tampines, Bukit Merah and Commonwealth showed that requests for immunisation are usually from parents for their young children.

"We've not seen a marked increase though SM Goh getting chicken pox has generated a lot of publicity. Most of my patients (for the vaccination) are young children and teenagers," said Dr Lawrence Soh from Shalom Clinic and Surgery at Bukit Merah.

Recently, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, 68, was hospitalised for 12 days for chicken pox. 

At SingHealth Polyclinics, 145 children under 12 years old were immunised against the illness between January and March this year. Only 49 people older than that were vaccinated. 

Yet it is the elderly that are more at risk when they contract the virus, as they tend to have a weaker immune system. On his discharge, SM Goh advised the elderly who have not gotten the illness before to get themselves vaccinated.

Most people get chicken pox when young, but the elderly can get a condition called shingles, said Dr Leslie Tay from Karri Family Clinic at Tampines. "This is a reactivation of the same virus that causes chicken pox," said the general practitioner.

However, the vaccine is not suitable for everyone.

SingHealth Polyclinics' assistant director of clinical services, Dr Ruth Lim, said that anyone who has a life-threatening allergy to gelatin or the antibiotic neomycin should not ask to be immunised as the chicken pox vaccine contains these.

"If you've had a previous serious reaction to your first dose of the chicken pox vaccine then obviously you should not come back for the second dose," she said.

People with a weakened immune system, such as those receiving a high dosage of steroids or those undergoing chemotherapy should not be vaccinated as well.

"The vaccine is a live virus — meaning that the chicken pox virus has been rendered weak so that it won't cause the disease. But if your immune system is not strong enough, you may still get an outbreak of chicken pox," said Dr Tay.

Pregnant women or those planning to get pregnant within the month are also advised not to immunise themselves. This is because "the effect of the vaccine on the foetus are unknown", said Dr Lim.

Serious complications like septicaemia (an infection of the blood), pneumonia, and brain inflammation can occur during a bout of chicken pox. But such occurrences are "very rare", according to Dr Lim and Dr Tay.

When these happen, they tend to be in adults with weak immune systems.

The chicken pox vaccine is 70 per cent effective if administered within 72 hours of exposure to the virus. Depending on age and the type of vaccine used, a single or a double dose is required. A single dose costs between $60 to $72 at polyclinics, while a two-dose package will cost more than $120. 

From TODAYOnline.com, Singapore News – Wednesday, 27-May-2009; see the source article here.

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Take another shot

Disease is more severe if older adults get it; vaccination is advised

by Eveline Gan

05:55 AM May 12, 2009

OLDER adults are often advised to go for regular flu and pneumococcal shots.

Now, doctors are urging them to add another shot - against chicken pox - to their vaccination schedule, if they have not been exposed to the virus during their childhood days.

Each chicken pox jab, which ranges in cost from $80 to $100, is optional in Singapore. Adults require two doses while children below 13 need only one.

The advice came after Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, 67, was hospitalised for chicken pox last week.

It is rare for senior citizens, such as SM Goh, to get chicken pox, said Dr Reshma Merchant, a geriatrician at National University Hospital's University Medicine Cluster.

Dr Merchant explained that this is because about 90 per cent of the population would have had chicken pox when they were less than 15 years old. She added that it is more common for seniors to get shingles - caused by a reactivation of the chicken pox virus - after their earlier childhood attack.

But there are some who aren't immune to it.

"Most people don't consider the fact that if you don't get chicken pox as a child, you might get it as an adult, just like SM Goh did," said Dr Leslie Tay, a general practitioner at Karri Family Clinic.

Sufferers usually experience fever and red, itchy blisters on the body and face.

In most cases, the childhood disease is harmless and "mild". "However, in adults and older people, the disease tends to be much more severe," Dr Tay said.

According to Dr Leong Hoe Nam, a consultant at Singapore General Hospital's (SGH) department of infectious diseases, adults who get chicken pox often end up with a lot more blisters on their faces and bodies.

"A child may get a few hundred chicken pox lesions, but adults can get several thousands. This causes more severe scarring," said Dr Leong.

More worryingly, he added, older adults have a higher risk of chicken pox-related complications. Under five per cent of adult chicken pox sufferers require hospitalisation, Dr Leong estimated.

Dr Sim Kwang Chuor, a general practitioner and medical director of Aesthetic Works Medical Associates, explained that older people generally have lower immune systems.

"They are more prone to severe complications due to the body's reduced ability to fight the virus," said Dr Sim.

Those with impaired immune systems or underlying chronic diseases which decrease immunity, such as diabetes, are also more susceptible to serious complications.

Possible life-threatening complications include secondary bacterial infection, as well as lung and brain infection.

According to Dr Merchant, warning signs of severe chicken pox infection or complications include respiratory symptoms such as breathing difficulties and wheezing, bleeding rashes or densely packed blisters.

Other signs include neurological changes that cause unsteadiness or drowsiness.

A regular bout of chicken pox typically clears up within two weeks.

Prompt treatment and medication, especially within the first 48 hours, can significantly reduce the number of blisters and other symptoms.

"If you think you have chicken pox, my advice is to drop everything and see a doctor straightaway to confirm it and get medication. It can significantly reduce your suffering," said Dr Leong.

How chicken pox spreads
According to SGH's Dr Leong Hoe Nam, you can get chicken pox within 10 to 21 days after contact with an infected person. The person is usually infectious about one day before the rash appears until after the blisters dry up.

The highly contagious virus is present in saliva and in the fluid of the vesicles (blisters).

"When the affected person sneezes or coughs, the virus gets into the air and is inhaled by others. It can also spread through direct contact since the virus is also on the skin of the affected person when the vesicles burst," said general practitioner Dr Leslie Tay.

The virus is so contagious that if someone in your household gets it, there's an 80 to 100 per cent chance that it will infect you if you haven't been exposed to the virus before, said Dr Leong.

From TODAY, Health – Tuesday, 12-May-2009

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