Malaysia society is experiencing rapid urbanisation and modernization. A sizeable new middle class has emerged and the traditional ways of life and eating habits of the different ethnic communities are changing. For many years, nutritional surveys have been capturing the transformations of food consumptions. To date a comprehensive survey focusing on the socio-cultural determinants of food habits at the national level have not been reported. The purpose of the Malaysian Food Barometer is to fill this gap. This PPT presents the conceptual framework and the methodologies used to investigate the eating practices and cultural representations on food and eating in a multicultural context.

1. 1
Malaysian
Food Barometer
Prof Jean Pierre Poulain
Chair of « Food Studies: Food, Cultures and Health »
TAYLOR’S TOULOUSE UNIVERSITY CENTER
22th Mai 2014

2. Plan
 1 Malaysian context
 2 The purpose of the barometer
 3 Some findings
 4 Next step
2

3. Obesity and NCD in Malaysia
• Overweight and obesity have doubled over the
past decade among adult from 21% in 1996 to
43% in 2006 (Lim et al., 2000; MOH, 2008) and recently it
was reported at 44.5% (MOH, 2011), high among
adolescents, 19% (Poh et al., 2003) and children from
20.7% in 2002 to 26.1% in 2008 (Ismail et al., 2009).
• Among the available tools to prevent and deal
with the development of obesity are nutrition
and food education and they should play a
leading role.

4. Malaysia Health Policy

5. “As income rise and behaviour changes, certain health
risks increase. Sedentary or stressful lifestyles, unhealthy
food intake (…), lead to higher incidences of chronic
conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and
cardiovascular diseases.
These conditions have significant implications on healthcare
costs and drive increasing demand for relatively expensive
treatment and long-term rehabilitative care.”
(Ministry of Health Malaysia, 2010)

6. “The accelerated phase of industrialization and
urbanization in recent decades has inevitably brought about
changes in lifestyles of Malaysians.
Changes in dietary habits and sedentary lifestyles are known
to be associated with changes in health and increased
prevalence of chronic diseases in the population.”
National Coordinating Committee on Food & Nutrition,
Ministry of Health of Malaysia, 2009

7. Seven Strategic
action areas for the
prevention and
control of NCD
7

8. “It is well known that an unhealthy lifestyle such as a
poor diet, sedentary living, smoking cigarettes and
stress play a major role in the rise of obesity and
other related non-communicable diseases. The
Health Ministry is fully cognizant of the need for
early prevention steps as it will make a difference in
reducing the prevalence of obesity and non-
communicable diseases,”
Datuk Seri Dr. Subramaniam, Minister of Health
April 27, 2012
8

9. Malaysian departure context
1 Multicultural society
Each group has its own food ethnic culture, social
dimensions of food choice and food habits and body
image models for adults and children.
2 High frequency of outside-home food consumption
Probably one of the highest in the world and a
strong positive correlation with urbanization
9

10. 10
Physiology
and nutrition
Food
Cultures
Nutritional surveys Socio-anthropological
surveys
Interdisciplinary
dialogue
Public Health

11.  Food consumption
– Vegetable
– Meat and fish
– Diary
 Nutrients
– Carbohydrate
– Fat
– Protein
– Micro-nutrients
 Variety
...
 Eating out
 Food intakes
– Food days
– Meals and snacking
– Structures & compositions
 Social representations &
perception of risk
 Social contexts
– Interactions
– Conviviality,
– Commensality
…
11
Nutritional surveys Socio-anthropological
surveys
Eating
decision
Physiology
and nutrition
Food
Cultures
Interdisciplinary
dialogue
Public Health

12. What are the purposes
of MFB ?
1. To study food patterns transformations
2. It differs from nutritional survey but is
complementary to it
3. To develop interdisciplinary dialogue:
– between nutrition and anthropology for the benefice
of public health
– between sensorial analysis and sociological analysis to
explore food decision
12

13. Malaysian Food Barometer
Organization
13
COther items
Outcomes
1 To understand transformations of :
- Food market
- Restaurant market
2 To help policies markers:
- Public Health
- Food Crise monitoring
Operational
Objectives
Scientific
Objectives
Social-Demographic characteristic include
ethnicity & social mobility
Food & eating norms
Food practices & recall of 24 hours
Purchase & cooking practices
Representations on foods and
eating include risk perception
Ethnic group's boundaries, crossbreeding
3 Additional outcomes per
stakeholders
Specific focus
(...)

14. Scientific and
Operational objectives
1. To understand effects of
modernization in a multi-
cultural context
2. To develop cross-national
comparisons
3. To challenge the
“convergence” theories
which claims the
homogenization of
middle class lifestyles
1. To describe food habits and food
cultures in terms of: practices,
social norms, social representations
and beliefs
2. To identify “food lifestyles” and
study correlation between food
lifestyle and body mass index
3. To listen weak signals in order to
monitor food crises
4. To get a baseline for further surveys
14

15. MFB a recurrent survey
≠
2013 2015 2017 2019 (…)
MFB 1
Pilote
Baseline
MFB 2 MFB 3 MFB 4
≠ ≠ ≠

16. Useful data for
different stakeholders
 Public health actors (from epidemiology to health
and nutritional education);
 Economic actors (including agro-food chain,
restaurants and food services stakeholders);
 Academics interested in food consumption and
food cultures from anthropology and food
sociology, to medical science, nutrition…
16

17. Malaysian modernization
17

18. Conceptual framework
18
Independants variables Dependants variables

19. 19
One definition of meddle class: The strobiloid
representation of income distribution
Atkinson,1970; Mendras, 1994; Chauvel, 1995
50
100
200
Middle class
(Median national income)
Higher income class = rich
Median income
Income
Lower income class = poor

20. Comparisons of national strobiloids
Median income
per year per
capita: 23.000 an
Gini: 25.2%
Median class: 84%
Median income
per year per
capita: 32.000/an
Gini: 34.5%
Median class: 58%
Median income
per year per
capita: 6.900/an
Gini: 59.8%
Median class: 44%
Median income
per year per
capita: 16.400/an
Gini: 46.21%
Median class: 49%
Sweden US Malaysia Brazil

21. Modernization
Variable
Variables Combination Details
Urbanization Q3
Living area
Rural
Urban
Sub-Urban
Rural=10
Urban=50
Suburban=40
Education Q35 Primary or lower=10
Lower secondary
school=20
Upper sec. school=30
College/University=40
Incomes Q39
Income /
month
100-700=10
700-1333=20
1333-2000=30
More than 2000=40
Incomes
evolution
(5 past years)
Q40 Have decreased =10
Remained stable=30
Have increased=50
Size of
household
Q38
Family
members
living together
More than
10 = 0
9-10 = 10
7-8= 20
5-6= 30
2-4= 40
1= 50
Modernization level %
Lowest (level1) 21.30
Medium (level 2) 48.40
Highest (level 3) 30.30
N=2000

22. 22

23.  Malay urban and rural
23

24. Methodology

25. Questionnaire
 The questionnaire has 7 main
parts:
– socio demographic,
– food norms,
– food intakes of the last 24 hours,
– cooking practices,
– representations on food,
– health and risk issues,
– ethnicity indicators.
25
Q9 The following question is about the usual organization of your meal. I
will ask you to explain the different food items that your lunch, dinner and
supper are usually composed of.
接下来的问题是有关于您用餐单。我将会问一些有关于您的早餐，午
餐，晚餐，宵夜和茶点的餐单。
Soalan berikutnya tentang pertubuhan biasa hindangan anda. Saya akan
meminta anda untuk menjelaskan barangan makanan yang berbeza yang
anda makan untuk makan tengah hari, makan malam dan makan lewat
malam biasanya terdiri daripada.
[SHOW CARD]
A proper breakfast
完整早餐
Sarapan pagi yang betul
A proper Lunch
完整午餐
Makan tengah hari yang betul
A proper dinner
完整晚餐
Makan malam yang betul
A proper supper
完整宵夜
Makan
lewat malam yang betul
A snack
茶点
Snek yang betul
Tea time
下午茶
Watuk minum

26. Sampling N = 2063
 Questionnaire: 60 questions and + 1200 variables
 Randomized sampling for states and level of urbanization
 Aleatoir sampling for the gender and ethnicity
 40 minutes in face to face interview
 Languages : English, Bahasa, Chinese
 Age : 15-end of the life
 Field time: January - Mai 2013
26

27. Reconstruction of
food intakes
27

28. Data collection
 Data collection is based on a “recall of the last 24 hours” approach.
 First inviting people to say what they consider to be a "proper meal",
a "proper breakfast", a "proper lunch", etc. And this is presented to
them as taking place in an ideal setting, when nothing has disturbed
the material organization of the preparation and consumption of
these meals.
 In the second step, when the interviewee is "liberated" from the
normative pressures by his or her statement, another series of
questions is proposed to help the individual to rebuild his or her food
day.
28

29. The main topics of finding
 Eating out
 Meals, patterns and
 Food day patterns
 Social representations on food and eating
 Food crisis
 Some indexes
 Dialogue with public health
29

30. EATING OUT THE WEEK BEFORE
Findings

31. Eating out & age

32. Eating out and modernization

33. Eating out and metropolization

35. Eating out : Ethnicity & Gender

36. Eating out – Education & Gender

37. Eating out – Ethnic Group – Education

38. Eating out : number of family members

39. Eating out and modernization
39

40. 40
-3,0
-2,0
-1,0
,0
1,0
2,0
3,0
4,0
Low Medium High
Dinner Outside * Modernization
No
Yes

41. Eating out: Meals
Meals only
 Breakfast
 And or Lunch
 And/or Diner
12,5
% on
Meals
% on
Individuals
64.1 % of the Malaysian individuals eat at
least on meal per day outside of the home
12.5 % of individuals eating only at home
have at least one meal that comes from
outside
Eating out
Eating at home with meals coming from outside
Eating at home
7.72
46.12
53.88
10,25

42. Eating out comparative analyze
42
Germany Eating out 1 meal on 7
France Eating out 1 meal on 5
Spain Eating out 1 meal on 5
Italie Eating out 1 meal on 4
UK Eating out 1 meal on 3
Malaysia Eating out 1 meal on 2
(2.15)
US Eating out 1 meal on 2

43. Eating out: conclusion
 Very high importance of eating out
 Eating out positively linked to
– Modernization and
– Metropolisation
– Level of education
– Gender
– Age
– Ethnic groups
 Eating out have progress and will progress.
 Restaurant industry is in the front line of the fight
43

44. FOOD DAYS : NORMS AND
PRACTICES
Finding

45. Number of meals per day

47. Malaysia
47
0,00%
5,00%
10,00%
15,00%
20,00%
25,00%
30,00%
35,00%
40,00%
45,00%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718192021222324
Malaysia 2013

48. Food days and modernization
48

49. 49

50. Meals structures
 Collective structure
– Dish of rice or noodles with
separated dishes shared in
the table
 Individual structures
– Dish of rice or noodle + other
food in 1 plate
– Dish of Roti or Thosai in 1
plate
– Sandwich Burger
– Cereal + Milk
– Sausages + Eggs
– Toasts
– Pastries
– Soup

51. Lunchs
3 % 6.2 %
74.9 %
18.3%

52. RICE AND NOODLES CONSUMPTION
4 Findings

53. Rice and noodles ratio
50.2%
34.1%
10.5%
5.3%

54. 54
-4,0
-3,0
-2,0
-1,0
0,0
1,0
2,0
3,0
Low Medium High
Rice-Noodle Dinner * Modernization
NC
Presence of rice
Presence of
mee/noodle
Others

55. SOCIO-CULTURAL
REPRESENTATIONS
4 Findings

56. A set of questions to study the
representations
 “Food must be…”
 “Eating well is “
 “Food that are Good for health ”
 “Food you need to reduce to be in health”
 “Perception of change”
56

57. -2,5
-2,0
-1,5
-1,0
-0,5
0,0
0,5
1,0
1,5
2,0
2,5
3,0
Low Medium High
Food must be... * Modernization
A need
Shared with
someone
A pleasure
Prevent health
problem
N = 1,992; as = 0.026

58. -3,0
-2,0
-1,0
0,0
1,0
2,0
3,0
Low Medium High
Food must be... *
Modernization
-3,0
-2,0
-1,0
,0
1,0
2,0
3,0
Low Medium High
Food must be... * Modernization
Indian
A need
Shared with someone
A pleasure
Prevent health problem
N = 133; as = 0.017
-1,5
-1,0
-,5
,0
,5
1,0
Low Medium High
Food must be... * Modernization
Chinese
A need
Shared with someone
A pleasure
Prevent health problem

59. -3,0
-2,0
-1,0
0,0
1,0
2,0
3,0
Low Medium High
Food must be... *
Modernization
-2,0
-1,5
-1,0
-,5
,0
,5
1,0
1,5
2,0
2,5
Low Medium High
Food must be... * Modernization
Malay
A need
Shared with someone
A pleasure
Prevent health problem
N = 1,174; as = 0.065
-1,5
-1,0
-0,5
0,0
0,5
1,0
1,5
2,0
2,5
Low Medium High
Food must be... * Modernization
Non-Malay Bumiputra
A need
Shared with someone
A pleasure
Prevent health problem
N = 192; as = 0.060

60. -5,0
-4,0
-3,0
-2,0
-1,0
0,0
1,0
2,0
3,0
4,0
Metropolitan Rural Sabah Sarawak
Food must be... * Urbanization
A need
Shared with someone
A pleasure
Prevent health problem
N = 1,192; as = 0.000

61. OBESITY
4 Findings

62. BMI

63. Eating out obesity and gender

64. MALAYSIAN EMBLEMATIC DISHES
4 Findings

65. Favorites dishes
NASI LEMAK
46.20 %
NOODLES /MEE
37%
ROTI CANAI
24.35 %
OTHER NASI 26.55 %

66. Back to the Malaysian Context
 Nutrition programs developed in Europe and USA cannot be transferred
without the risk of:
– Socio-cultural resistances
– Counter-productive effects
 The first front line stakeholders:
– Professionals in catering and restaurant industry
– Food industry
 Public health messages must be adapted to the cultural and socio-
economical contexts in Malaysia
66

67. To move from a population Policy to a
target groups Policy
67
R is k fac tor
Distributiondensity
Ris k f ac tor
Distributiondensity
R is k fa cto r
Densitydistribution
R is k fa c to r
Distributiondensity
Population approach
High risk approach
Combined strategiesOriginal distribution
IUMSP-GCT

68. 68

69. 7 Strategic Action Areas
The Malaysian Food barometer adress
 Interventions
– Environmental +++
– Lifestyles +++
– Clinical
 Advocacy ++
 Research surveillance and evaluation
 Responses
– Government +
– Society +++
– Health sector +
– Health system +
his

70. Research team
Chair Food Studies:
Food, Cultures & health
UKM-KITA
Monash
University
UiTM
Prof. Poulain Jean-Pierre, Université de Toulouse
(France), Taylor’s Toulouse University Center
(Malaysia), poulain@univ-tlse2.fr
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tibère Laurence, Université de
Toulouse (France), Taylor’s Toulouse University Center
(Malaisie),
LaurenceMaryseTibere.Poulain@taylors.edu.my
Dr. Laporte Cyrille, Université de Toulouse (France),
Taylor’s Toulouse University Center (Malaisie),
cyrille.laporte@univ-tlse2.fr
Neethiananthan Ari Ragavan, Dean of the School of
Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts Taylor’s
University, neethia.n@taylors.edu.my
Lai Mun Yee, Senior Lecturer and PhD student, School
of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts Taylor’s
University, munyee.lai@taylors.edu.my
Daniela Chiang, Research assistant, Université de
Toulouse (France)
Angie Lim, Senior Executive, Administration, Taylor’s
Toulouse University Center, Angie Lim
LooIng.Lim@taylors.edu.my
Yu Wai Man, Master student, Université de Toulouse
(France), Taylor’s Toulouse University Center (Malaisie)
Wei Ting Ting, Master student, Université de Toulouse
(France), Taylor’s Toulouse University Center (Malaisie)
Abourich Sara, Administration ,Taylor’s Toulouse
University Center (Malaysia),
Roser Simon, Master student, Université de Toulouse
(France), Taylor’s Toulouse University Center (Malaisie)
Prof. Shamsul A. B., The national University of
Malaysia, KITA, Institute of Ethnic Studies,
shamsul_ab@yahoo.com
Prof. Mansor Mohamed Noor, The national
University of Malaysia, KITA, Institute of Ethnic
Studies, mansormohdnoor@yahoo.com
Anis Yusal Yusoff, Principal Research Fellow The
national University of Malaysia, KITA, Institute of
Ethnic Studies, anisy@ukm.my
Aloysius Marcela, PhD student, The national
University of Malaysia, KITA, Institute of Ethnic
Studies, marcella.carole@gmail.com
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Smith Wendy,
Monash University,
wendy.smith@monash.edu
Prof. Noor Mohd Ismail,
Department of Nutrition and
Dietetics, Faculty of Health
Sciences, Universiti Teknologi
MARA (UiTM),
ismailnoor49@gmail.com

71. Research meeting
71
Hemma, Sarjit, Fredric, Cyrille Laporte, Marcella, Mun Yee, Jean Pierre Poulain, Laurence
Tibere, Anis Yusouf Haresh, Sara