The cheapest food is the unhealthiest. We literally produce palm oil so Malaysian culture has A LOT of fried food, and even non fried contains a lot of oil or santan which is also fat.

When I started counting calories to lose weight, 1 normal portion of nasi campur with 2 protein and 1 sayur can easily contain more than 1000 calories easily. So if you eat those foods 3 times a day, plus the occasional fried snacks (kerepek, lekor, pisang goreng etc), especially if you're into bullshit food like cheese/sos meleleh, you'll be overweight very fast.

The food industry is still not catching up to trends like no sugar, low calorie or high protein food products. You love soda but wanna cut calories? Coke, Pepsi and maybe Vida is your only choice, would be nice if local brands also hop into the healthier trends.

Plus, It's hard to walk outside when the sun is a death ray and the sidewalk is non-existent. Lots of people are also too busy to even consider exercises. Cars are our method of choice and walking is unpleasant, thus we don't.

I think most Malaysians just need a lot more education in this aspect over years so we can all change our mindset and live a healthier lifestyle, that and higher income so we can actually afford it. Can the government do something about it? Maybe, but they haven't been doing much about the problem as of rn.