June 26, 2025
HO CHI MINH – Việt Nam is experiencing a 38 per cent enhance in chubby and weight problems charges, putting it among the many Southeast Asian nations with the fastest-growing charges, in response to Affiliate Professor Nguyễn Anh Tuấn, director of the digestive surgical procedure division at 108 Central Army Hospital.
Weight problems poses a major well being problem, exacerbated by widespread misconceptions about its impression. Its penalties prolong far past aesthetics, contributing to severe circumstances resembling diabetes, heart problems, numerous cancers, despair, infertility, problems throughout being pregnant and childbirth, and sleep problems, he stated.
The World Well being Group has labeled weight problems as a world epidemic, and Việt Nam will not be remoted from this alarming epidemic.
The Nationwide Institute of Vitamin has reported that the speed of chubby and weight problems in school-aged youngsters 5 to 19 years outdated has greater than doubled in a single decade from 8.5 per cent in 2010 to 19 per cent in 2020.
City areas are notably affected, with the prevalence reaching 26.8 per cent, in comparison with 18.3 per cent in rural areas. In main cities, the numbers are much more alarming: over 50 per cent of city youth in HCM Metropolis are chubby or overweight, and in Hà Nội, the determine exceeds 41 per cent.
At a current press convention in HCM Metropolis, Novo Nordisk Vietnam offered findings from the ACTION-Vietnam Research, printed on April 25, 2025, within the Journal of the ASEAN Federation of Endocrine Societies. The examine, carried out in collaboration with native researchers, surveyed 1,000 adults residing with weight problems (PwO) and 200 healthcare professionals (HCPs), revealing crucial insights into perceptions, attitudes, and obstacles in weight problems care.
Key findings included recognition of weight problems as a power illness, gaps in accountability and assist, restricted entry to efficient care, and the persistent stigma surrounding weight problems.
The findings highlighted the necessity to elevate public consciousness of weight problems, particularly amongst PwO and HCPs, and higher assist the method of building early interventions and complete weight problems care and therapy plans.
Dr. Georgia Rigas, an internationally famend weight problems physician with 25 years of medical expertise from Australia, identified that “weight problems administration doesn’t equal weight reduction.”
For many years, medical colleges had been instructing docs to deal with the problems of weight problems, a reactive method that comes too late for a lot of sufferers, she stated, including that weight problems is a power, progressive illness – not because of a person’s lack of willpower.
She inspired clinicians to “undertake a proactive method with PwO, which incorporates early screening for obesity-related problems, figuring out the basis causes of weight problems, and addressing them successfully with evidence-based therapies. Like different power progressive ailments, weight problems administration is greatest delivered through an built-in multi-disciplinary method.”
Affiliate Professor Tuấn, the examine’s co-author, emphasised that: “Weight problems is a power illness, some extent that has not been deeply addressed by many native research. Analysis exhibits an enormous hole in communication between docs and sufferers, with 40 per cent of docs reluctant to say weight and almost 50 per cent of sufferers feeling embarrassed when requested, which instantly impacts the effectiveness of therapy.”
Because the sponsor of the ACTION Asia Pacific in Việt Nam examine, Novo Nordisk, a world chief in power illness care, is working to assist reshape Việt Nam’s method to weight problems care.
Erik Wiebols, common supervisor of Novo Nordisk Vietnam, stated the corporate is collaborating with the Ministry of Well being, hospitals, universities, {and professional} associations to boost public consciousness, scale back stigma towards PwO, and strengthen healthcare supplier capability.
He highlighted that: “For over a century, Novo Nordisk has been on the forefront of diabetes care, a legacy that has endowed us with the experience and willpower to deal with some of the urgent well being challenges of our time: weight problems.
“We’re dedicated to supporting Việt Nam within the journey of elevating consciousness, bettering the assist system for folks with weight problems, and dealing with the Authorities to construct a stronger and simpler well being coverage for treating weight problems,” he added.
