The government should focus on ensuring children aged six and below are provided with nutritious food to curb stunted growth, a public health expert said.
Lim Chee Han, a senior researcher with Third World Network said children aged six and below are currently not covered by school-based nutrition programmes.
He said that rates of stunted growth among those aged five to 19 have decreased in recent years, which could be due to school-based programmes such as “Rancangan Makanan Tambahan” which has been implemented since 1979.
The initiative is aimed at children from lower household income families, of whom are likely to suffer from stunted growth.
Lim said it was insufficient to rely solely on immunisation programmes for children 18 months and above to prevent stunted growth.
It has been previously reported that research has shown that immunisation had indirectly prevented stunted growth, which can be caused by repeated infections.
Lim said while health check ups help with monitoring and reporting on children’s growth for further medical intervention and follow ups, it must be combined with providing nutrition and healthcare to be effective.
“It is pointless to rely on health clinics (for health check and follow ups) if families cannot meet the minimum requirements for food to combat stunted growth,” he told FMT.
Lim was commenting on former MP Charles Santiago’s remarks earlier this month that the rates of stunted growth among young children persisted despite years of awareness and policy discussion.
Santiago called for more decisive action to address poverty, inequality and access to basic nutrition.
Universiti Putra Malaysia associate professor Chin Yit Siew said while Malaysia has a solid nutrition policy framework in place, the main obstacle lies in implementation.
“Malaysia has many nutrition programmes, but scaling them up nationally is challenging,” she said.
Chin said nutrition is also not always treated as a top national priority across sectors, affecting coordination, long-term planning and sustained funding.
She also said that awareness about nutrition, even among health conscious families, was limited.
Chin said eating out and food delivery have become common due to busy family schedules, reducing parents’ control over ingredients and cooking methods and affecting the overall quality of children’s diets over time.
