Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad today called on the people to emulate the healthy lifestyle of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Among the 93-year-old’s secret to remain strong and healthy was to keep his daily food intake in check, Khalid added.

“I always notice, Tun Dr Mahathir at the age of 93 is still able to be a prime minister, he eats little, just enough, stops when he is no longer hungry, never overindulge, that is among his secret to health.

“If we practice to care for our diet together, eat in moderation, then we could have a healthy ageing process like our prime minister, he is the Malaysian icon for healthy ageing,” he said during the Senior Citizen Day 2018 programme by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Community Rehabilitation and Ageing Research Centre (H-Care) in Kuala Lumpur today.

H-Care is a demographic transition research centre focusing on healthy ageing and well-being as well as promoting healthy lifestyles and introducing healthy diets among senior citizens.

“At the age of mid-adulthood, give more attention to health as the increase in obesity and the chronic non-communicable disease often occurs among adults in Malaysia who did not take good care of their diet.

“Research centres like H-Care could improve the quality of rehabilitation and help achieve the healthy ageing mission among senior citizens in Malaysia by collaborating with government agencies and non-governmental organisations,” he added.

Meanwhile, chair of H-Care Suzana Shahar pointed out that senior citizens aged 60 years and above make up eight percent of the current population in Malaysia.

“We estimate that in the next 20 years Malaysia will hold ageing nation status, with those 60 years and over representing 15 percent of the population by 2030.

“Hence, the establishment of this centre of excellence is timely with the increase in the people's life expectancy and incidence of diseases related with the demographic transition,” she added.

- Bernama