The number of newly registered diabetes cases among this age group stood at 1,932 in 2025.
PETALING JAYA: A total of 660 new diabetes cases among youths aged below 30 have been recorded as of June this year, according to the latest data from the National Diabetes Registry (NDR), the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the number of newly registered diabetes cases among this age group stood at 1,932 in 2025, slightly higher than the 1,926 cases recorded in 2024, highlighting a worrying trend of young Malaysians being affected by the disease.
“Today, we are seeing individuals being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes at a younger age — as early as 14. This is a warning sign that diabetes is no longer a disease affecting only adults but is increasingly affecting teenagers and young people,” he said in response to Datuk Dr Richard Rapu @ Aman Anak Begri (GPS-Betong), who asked for the latest statistics on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) from 2024 to 2026, including diabetes and hypertension cases among youths below the age of 30, as well as the impact of the War on Sugar campaign and the sugar tax.
Dzulkefly said Malaysia is now facing a “silent pandemic” of NCDs, which claim around 94,000 lives annually, compared with the Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in about 37,000 deaths over two years.
He said the Health Ministry (MOH) had shifted its focus from sick care (disease treatment) to preventive healthcare through initiatives such as the National Health Screening Initiative (NHSI), introduced in 2022.
“Under the initiative, 347,813 individuals aged between 18 and 30 underwent health screenings in 2025. Of those screened, 341,257 individuals (98.1%) had no history of NCDs, 11,751 (3.4%) were found to have high blood glucose levels, while 30,170 (8.8%) recorded high blood pressure readings,” he added.
Dzulkefly said the findings showed that some young people already had NCD risk factors or diseases without being aware of their condition, making early screening and intervention crucial.
On efforts to curb sugar consumption, he said the War on Sugar campaign and the sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax had shown positive effects in changing public consumption patterns.
“The SSB tax, introduced in 2019 at RM0.40 per litre, was increased by 10 sen in January 2024 before being raised further to RM0.90 per litre in January 2025.
“A 2024 MOH assessment found that sugary drink consumption among adolescents fell from 36.9% to 16.4%, while the daily consumption of carbonated drinks declined from 36.9% in 2019 to 32.4% in 2022, based on the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2022,” he said.
Dzulkefly emphasised that the ministry would collaborate with UNICEF to evaluate the effectiveness of the higher sugar tax rate in 2027, three years after its implementation.
He said the ministry is also implementing the Strategic Plan to Reduce Sugar Intake Among Malaysians 2024–2030, which includes initiatives such as KiBaR (Kira, Bakar, Rekod), the Healthier Choice Logo (HCL), Nutri-Grade labelling and the Healthy Dining Programme.
