Four out of five teenagers in the country are physically inactive, says health minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa.
She also said two out of three teenagers practise fitness activities at a sedentary level only.
“More and more of our teenagers are not active. So, why wait, let’s start now and exercise every day.
“Only 30 minutes, five times a week. Easy isn’t it?,” she said in conjunction with the 2023 Health Promotion in Learning Institutions (Hepili) programme today.
During the virtual assembly themed “We want to live healthy”, she said that despite being a busy person, this did not stop her from exercising daily to take care of her health.
Communications and digital minister Fahmi Fadzil, youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh, and education minister Fadhlina Sidek also took part in the assembly.
Fahmi encouraged the public to do stretches known as “X-break”, a physical activity performed within three to five minutes after sitting for more than two hours.
Yeoh said individuals need to be active from a young age to build endurance and character.
Meanwhile, Fadhlina said hot weather is not an excuse to skip exercising as it can be done indoors.
The assembly was attended by about 548,000 participants nationwide. FMT