Expert calls for high-level committee to tackle rising childhood stunting

 

A health expert has urged the government to establish a high-level, bipartisan national committee chaired by the prime minister to address the worsening stunting crisis in the country.

Consultant paediatrician and child-disability activist Dr Amar-Singh HSS stressed that stunting deprives children of their full potential from the outset, warning that failure to act would see another generation growing up unable to reach their capabilities.

“We cannot afford to let another generation grow up in the shadow of what they could have been. The impact of a 24 percent childhood stunting rate will harm the nation for decades into the future,” he said in a statement today.

While stunting rates have declined in many countries, including those with lower income levels such as Laos, Cambodia and Bangladesh, Amar said Malaysia’s rates continue to rise over the two decades from 16.6 percent in 2011 to 21.8 percent in 2022 and the World Health Organisation estimates the current rate is at 24 percent.

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The implications of stunting in children are staggering, as it causes permanent effects that limit adult height, impair brain development, reduce cognitive potential and productivity, which trap children in a lifetime cycle of poverty, he noted.

“There is also data to show an increased risk of adult obesity, childhood infections, premature deaths and increased risk of stunting in the next generation,” he said.

Malnutrition, poor food access

According to Amar, stunting is largely driven by food insecurity and lack of adequate nutrition in childhood, as well as nutrition issues in pregnancy.

Stunting does not only occur after birth, but often begins before a child is born, with data from the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2022 showing that 39.4 percent of pregnant women were anaemic, indicating nutritional deficiencies and a major risk for low birth weight and stunting in newborns.

Aside from that, many children consume sufficient calories but lack essential nutrients such as protein, iron, calcium and vitamin D, citing findings from the South East Asian Nutrition Surveys II and NHMS 2024 show that 50 percent of Malaysian children do not consume a sufficiently diverse diet, such as fruits, vegetables and dairy.

Amar also emphasised that stunting rates were higher among children from low-income households, indigenous communities and those living in Sabah and Sarawak, highlighting poverty as a key underlying factor.

Structural reforms

He said that even though several national policies and action plans had previously been introduced to address child nutrition, including the National Children’s Policy and the National Children’s Action Plan, the absence of publicly available evaluations and independent audits raised concerns about their effectiveness.

Therefore, he said, urgent structural reforms to reduce child poverty and malnutrition are needed, particularly during the critical first 1,000 days from conception to a child’s second birthday.

He further called for an external audit of plans and programmes addressing malnutrition implemented over the past 20 years.

“A key to reducing stunting in children is implementing structural reforms, particularly in poverty reduction.

“We need to commit to ending child poverty and malnutrition (achieving SDG Goals 1 & 2), especially in targeted groups and address social determinants of health by using disaggregated data on income, location and ethnicity to identify inequities and provide targeted support to those most in need,” he added.

- Bernama