Introduction: Literatures suggest that insufficient physical activity as one of the contributors to non-communicable chronic diseases; nevertheless, data on the physical activity level is sparsely reported among individuals practising a vegetarian diet in Malaysia. The current study aims to determine the prevalence of insufficient physical activity and its association with socio-demographic factors, lifestyle factors and body weight status among 273 individuals prac- tising a vegetarian diet in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Methods: A set of self-administered questionnaire was distributed to all vegetarians and their data on physical activity was determined using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). Results: The average years of practising vegetarianism was 14.2±9.6 years, and most of the vegetarians were practised ovo-vegetarian diet (44.0%). A majority of them were Chinese (54.9%) and female (64.8%), with an aver- age age of 47.5 ± 13.1 years. The prevalence of overweight and obesity were 27.5% and 8.1%, respectively. Accord- ing to GPAQ, about two in five vegetarians (46.2%) were having insufficient physical activity. Being females, older age, Chinese, married individuals, and those with high total household income level were found to be significantly associated with low physical activity level among Malaysian vegetarians (p
Introduction: This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate relationships between diet quality assessed by Malay- sian Healthy Eating Index (HEI) and cardiometabolic risk factors in adolescents aged 13 years. Methods: 336 ado- lescents from various public secondary schools provided information on sociodemography and their anthropometric measurements including height (cm), weight (kg) and waist circumference (cm) were measured. Body mass index (BMI) was estimated thereafter. Dietary intakes assessed using a validated adolescent food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to estimate Malaysian HEI. Biomarker parameters including lipid profile, fasting glucose, insulin and insulin resistance were also assessed. Associations of diet quality indicators to cardiometabolic risk factors were examined using regression models. Results: The overall diet quality of the adolescents was rather poor (49%), with a greater percentage of males were found to have low dietary quality score compared to females (56% vs. 39%; p