Page 75 - AEI Insights 2018 Vol 4 Issue 1

Hashim et al, 2018

to their low fat and varied food recommendations, which also a minority of our respondents
do, some of which have used the information in their professions.

As to whether they act on these sources, the Malaysian Malays in general reported taking
action, being more compliant compared to the Swedes (Table 8). For the Malaysian Malays,
those with no university education tended to be more compliant (77.2 per cent compared to 52
per cent) while for the Swedes, no significant difference could be observed (19 per cent
compared to 25 per cent).

Table 8: Following advice

Sweden Malaysia
per cent per cent per cent per cent No
Yes No Yes
Age groups
Under 30 36 64 56.9 43
30 and above 25 175 60.8 39.1
Gender
Women 18 82 52 48
Men 26 74 64.4 35.6
Education
Low 19 81 77.2 22.7
High 25 75 52 47.9
Weight
Low/normal 26 74 58.3 41.7
High 15 85 54.5 45.4

Some examples of how the information was applied by the Swedes and Malaysian Malays in
response to following advice from these sources are listed below:

Applications by the Swedes:
 Eating what the body needs (14)
 Vegetarian food (4)
 No sugar (4)
 No salt (4)
 Exercise (3)
 The plate model (2)
 Ecological food (2)
 Food during pregnancy (2)
 Food for children (2)
 How often you can eat fish (1)
 No fat (1)
 Do not follow advice (4)

Applications by the Malaysian Malays:
 Diet (33)
 Exercise (6)
 Pregnancy (2)
 Other (6) eg: Follow what have been suggested, Always look after your health

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