Tackling obesity in ASEAN Prevalence, impact, and guidance on interventions An Economist Intelligence Unit report commissioned by the Asia Roundtable on Food Innovation for Improved Nutrition Commissioned by About The Economist Intelligence Unit The world leader in global business intelligence The Economist Intelligence Unit (The EIU) is the research and analysis division of The Economist Group, the sister company to The Economist newspaper. Created in 1946, we have 70 years’ experience in helping businesses, financial firms and governments to understand how the world is changing and how that creates opportunities to be seized and risks to be managed. Given that many of the issues facing the world have an international (if not global) dimension, The EIU is ideally positioned to be commentator, interpreter and forecaster on the phenomenon of globalisation as it gathers pace and impact. 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Tackling obesity in ASEAN Prevalence, impact, and guidance on interventions About the Asia Roundtable on Food Innovation for Improved Nutrition (ARoFIIN) he double burden of obesity and undernutrition has become an emerging threat to health and Thealthcare systems in Asia. It requires immediate action driven not only by governments and regulators, but by innovations in the food industry driven by the private sector, as well as scientists and academics, operating in the region. The Asia Roundtable on Food Innovation for Improved Nutrition (ARoFIIN) was set up in January 2015 to leverage public-private partnerships to bring together experts from across government, academia, industry, and civil society, to initiate and sustain a regional, multi-stakeholder dialogue on the role of food innovation in tackling obesity and chronic disease. ARoFIIN is convened by the Health Promotion Board (HPB), A*STAR, Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS) and Food Industry Asia (FIA). ARoFIIN is made up of a group of key decision-makers who work towards fostering a conducive forum to support dissemination of science-based information on the causes and drivers of obesity and chronic disease, and improve clarity on the barriers and enablers for R&D and food innovation in the region. ARoFIIN leverages effective public-private partnerships and stimulates scalable, cost-effective and multi-stakeholder strategies that drive food innovation and positive change in consumer behaviour. This public-private platform gives us the ability to scale up projects at a quicker rate, ease the transfer of technology and skills, and conduct wider outreach and dissemination of knowledge and resources. ARoFIIN’s vision is: “Addressing Asia’s public health and nutrition challenges through partnerships and innovation.” © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2017 1 Tackling obesity in ASEAN Prevalence, impact, and guidance on interventions Contents About the Asia Roundtable on Food Innovation for Improved Nutrition (ARoFIIN) 1 Foreword 3 Key findings and policy insights 4 Prevalence 4 Impact and economic cost 5 Interventions 6 Obesity in Asia: a call to action 10 Trends in Asia 10 Country profiles 16 Singapore 16 Malaysia 18 Thailand 19 The Philippines 19 Indonesia 20 Vietnam 21 The cost of inaction: an economic cost assessment 23 Model framework 23 Economic cost calculations: results 25 Obesity interventions 29 Introduction 29 The framework 30 Global evidence searches 30 ASEAN and Asian evidence searches 30 Analysis of the “promise” of interventions 30 Policy research 31 Key findings from the evidence review 32 Overall findings 32 Interventions by category 33 Conclusions and policy recommendations 53 Appendix 55 Survey 55 Evidence review 56 Economic cost model 59 Expert interview programme 65 References 66 2 © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2017 Tackling obesity in ASEAN Prevalence, impact, and guidance on interventions Foreword besity is a growing public health burden, not just in affluent countries but also in many developing Onations at all income levels. Increases in obesity prevalence are driven by a range of interlinked factors, including rising incomes, urbanisation, shifting lifestyles and genetic factors that may trigger obesity among individuals in once food-scarce environments. Obesity incidence is also rising steadily, bringing with it new challenges. The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is no exception to these trends. If action is not taken, countries could find themselves fighting a range of related non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including type 2 diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and stroke, as well as a range of chronic diseases including musculoskeletal disorders. For some countries, this challenge will emerge as they continue to battle a range of communicable and infectious diseases, as well as under- nutrition in some portions of the population, placing a great strain on public health systems. This study, commissioned by the Asia Roundtable on Food Innovation for Improved Nutrition, responds to this challenge by providing an authoritative assessment of the current obesity landscape in a sample of six ASEAN countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Its goal is to help guide policymakers, health organisations and industry to work together and tackle the rising threat of obesity in the region. The project includes a global clinical evidence review of interventional effectiveness in the fight against obesity, a unique model calculating the economic cost of obesity in our ASEAN country sample, a high-level interview programme with over 20 nutrition experts from regional institutions and governments, and a unique survey of obese persons and healthcare practitioners across our country sample, providing original data on obesity drivers, prevalence and perceptions of policy responses. The study develops and implements a framework to quantify the economic cost of obesity across our country sample—with Malaysia and Indonesia emerging as the worst affected—as well as the real impact of obesity in terms of years of productivity lost. It also examines the underlying causes of the problem, the trends across our country sample, and ASEAN-specific cultural, social and genetic factors. It then advances a series of evidence-based recommendations and insights to help guide stakeholders to respond to the obesity challenge. Strategies and approaches discussed in this report include the growing role of public–private partnerships and collaborations, from product innovation to advertising codes of practice; the importance of well-designed education and public awareness campaigns; and best practices in food labelling. Taken together, these connected research streams provide a novel, comprehensive assessment of obesity in a region where data has historically been scarce. They also provide actionable and credible strategies for all stakeholders, including governments, companies and citizens. © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 2017 3 Tackling obesity in ASEAN Prevalence, impact, and guidance on interventions