Page 77 - AEI Insights 2018 Vol 4 Issue 1

Hashim et al, 2018

In comparison, for Malay Malaysians important sources of information for health issues were
recommendations from friends and family. By getting feedback and support from these
sources, they become more confident about their decision-making process. Malaysia’s Internet
penetration stands at 67.5 per cent (World Bank, 2015) giving rise to the increase in
accessibility of social media as a tool for information sourcing. However, traditional print
media such as leaflets and newspapers are still preferred as they are widely circulated; 2,995,
685 as of January – June 2015 (Audit Bureau of Circulations Malaysia, 2015) and read
throughout the nation states.

Some of the Swedish respondents report ignoring and criticizing public/private health care
institutions and government agencies, brochures and daily newspapers. Judging from the
comments, the information provided on government agencies websites is seen by some
respondents as outdated and already known, which raises the issue of the authorities addressing
current trends in weight-related issues. The Swedish data reflects two opposing tendencies.
Governmental agencies keep ‘the plate model’ and controlling calorie intake as their
instructions for weight loss, which a group of the respondents in this study are critical of them
and relatively few persons are using them. At the same time, a report from 2013 from the

Swedish agency for health technology assessment and assessment of social services (SBU,
1
2013) indicates that a low-carbohydrate diet, such as LCHF, is more effective weight loss than
today’s conventional advice about calorie intake, which is what a group of the respondents
report to favor. (The long term effects of LCHF on other aspects of health, are, however, so far
not known, hence the official policy).

Knowing where to access science-based and accurate information is essential for managing a
diet and a healthy lifestyle. In the Swedish data, social media, family and friends and expert
talks are considered both easiest to understand and most trustworthy; the information obtained
from these sources is evaluated as most useful, which explains why the respondents choose
them. Journals and blogs are considered among the easiest to understand, but are less of the
rated as the most trusted. Not all nutrition information found on blogs is seen as accurate and
research-based, which results in them being less trustworthy.

For the Malaysian Malays, none of the information sources is seen as both very easy to
understand and very trustworthy. Only public institutions are seen as very easy to understand
and to some extent trustworthy. Blogs, YouTube/Vimeo and social media are considered the
easiest to understand but less likely to be trustworthy. Social media is, thus, judged as easy to
understand in both countries, but less trusted in Malaysia, while the Malaysian respondents are
more positive to the ease of using blogs and YouTube/Vimeo. This difference could be due to
the younger sample population in the Malaysian data who prefer to go online in search of
information but still remain cautious about what they have read.

In both Sweden and Malaysia, public health care institutions and governmental agencies are
seen as high in trustworthiness, but low in understandability, which can be an additional factor
why many of the respondents do not turn to these resources. In Malaysia, expert talks to the
public and private institutions are also seen as very trustworthy. Daily newspapers, leaflets,
radio/TV, and alternative medicine is seen as neither easy to understand nor trustworthy by the

1
SBU is an independent national authority, tasked by the government with assessing health care
interventions from a broad perspective, covering medical, economic, ethical and social aspects
(http://www.sbu.se/en/About-SBU/).

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