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Published on July 4, 2007

Mongkol led health officials on a 2.4-kilometre walk as part of a monthly campaign to encourage officials - and the public - to exercise.

He warned that obese people were three times more likely to get diabetes than those with an appropriate weight for their body mass.

Mongkol said fats stored in the abdomen caused fat acids to pour into the liver, affecting insulin and blood sugar levels and increasing the risk of diabetes. Once diabetes has been contracted, the patient is at three times the risk of coronary artery disease and having a stroke, he said.

To avoid such life-threatening afflictions, Mongkol advised people to exercise more, eat more vegetables and avoid sweet, salty or fatty food.

People wishing to maintain their current weight should exercise three times a week for more than 30 minutes a time, and those wanting to lose weight should do aerobic exercise for more than 45 minutes per session along with weight-lifting to create muscle.

Those aged 40-50 years old should exercise five times a week and the best way was to take a brisk walk for an hour a day, which would reduce the risk of obesity by 24 per cent, he added.

He cited a study in which overweight people who started to walk for half an hour a day, five days a week and ate low-fat food lost 5-7 per cent of their weight.

A four-year follow-up found the prevalence of diabetes among the subjects was lowered by 5-10 per cent and they had cut abdomen fat by 30 per cent on average.