The number of obese people in Vietnam is at a high level, and it is forecasted to result in an increase of related diseases such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and sexual disorder, according to a survey.
The information was revealed at the 13th national cardiac and vascular conference that is taking place in the northern province of Quang Ninh.
A survey conducted on 17,000 adults living in eight different areas of the country by the Vietnam Nutrition Institute showed that 16.3 percent of respondents are obese and 40 percent have fat stomachs, meaning the measurements of their second and third rounds (waist and bottom) are larger than average, said Hanoi Heart Hospital director Nguyen Quang Tuan.
As a result, the number of people with high blood pressure, heart diseases and sexual disorders has increased in Vietnam, he added.
25.1 percent of the population over the age of 25 is hypertensive. That means one in every four adults in the nation suffers from high blood pressure. The rate was 1.5 percent in 1960, 10.1 percent in 1970, and over 16 percent in 2000.
Unhealthy habits such as sitting for long hours in an office, consuming a salty diet that is rich in protein and fat but lacking in fiber, drinking beer, smoking and stress have resulted in the increase of these diseases.
However, the Vietnamese diet is generally healthier than that of Americans and Europeans, Tuan admitted.
Obesity and high blood pressure not only badly affect sexual competence, they make the situation worse due to the side effect of medicine taken for hypertensive treatment, said Tuan.
These medicines include thioridazine and fluphenazin, which may result in a decrease in sexual desire and even erectile dysfunction.
Before, most patients facing sexual disorders in Vietnam were over 50, but now it has appeared among males as young as 18-20.