SHAH ALAM, June 28 — Selangor has been recorded as the state with the most number of people being active in sports and exercises, with an impressive 1.3 million of its citizens leading a healthy lifestyle.
This is according to the latest data by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), based on its 2020 Census involving 16.1 million respondents.
In total, DOSM said 8.7 million people across the country are actively involved in sports and exercises, according to a report by Sinar Harian.
Johor is ranked second after Selangor, with 1.2 million people being recorded as having a healthy lifestyle. The two states contribute 28.5 per cent of the overall figure nationwide.
"Petaling, Johor Bahru and Kinta are the most active administrative districts, respectively recording 445,900, 392,500 and 339,200 individuals taking involvement in physical activities," DOSM was quoted as saying in a statement.
DOSM said of the 8.7 million people leading a healthy lifestyle, 62.4 per cent of them were involved in at least one physical activity, 22.8 per cent involved in two activities and 14.8 per cent in three or more sporting activities.
It added that 4.2 million people also responded saying they favour taking part in recreational activities, 2.8 million individuals do speed walking while 2.1 million enjoy running.
This is followed by cycling, e-sports, zumba or aerobics, swimming, gymnasium activities, extreme sports and tai chi or yoga.
Based on the 2020 Census, 80 per cent of respondents said their homes are located within five kilometres of facilities like playground and football field, and that this is one of the contributing factors to their involvement in physical activities.
