High cost of food may lead to unhealthy kids, warns dietitian

PETALING JAYA: A dietitian has warned of a spike in undernourished children in Malaysia as parents struggle with high food prices.

Mary Easaw, chief dietitian at the National Heart Institute (IJN), said many middle-class families are feeling the pinch from the higher cost of living.

They are dealing with the problem by scaling down on nutritious food and loading their children with carbohydrates to keep them full for a longer period of time.

“Food cost is high. Low and middle-income families are taking steps to reduce costs and make ends meet. This is especially so for those with many children,” she told FMT.

Cost of food staples has been on the rise in Malaysia.

Data from the Statistics Department showed headline inflation, which includes commodities such as food and energy prices (for example, oil and gas), rose by 3.7% in August 2017 from the same month a year ago.

Malaysia is one of several Asean countries facing simultaneous crises of children being over-fed, resulting in obesity, and being under-nourished, resulting in stunting and wasting.

This “double burden of malnutrition”, identified in a 2016 report from Unicef, World Health Organisation and Asean, is also happening in other middle-income countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.

Easaw said there was a need for a meal programme to assist parents in dealing with the spike in food prices as they struggle with the higher cost of living.

The key message for parents to take home would be to plan meals, cook hassle-free food and buy cheap nutritional food. She said the key to eating right was eating a variety of foods.

Working mothers, Easaw said, could cook rice at home and buy cooked mixed vegetables from restaurants together with some meat.

“If meat is expensive, eggs are a cheap and rich source of protein.

“Parents can also fry some ikan bilis (anchovies). It is also a rich source of protein,” she said.

Parents are advised to add soya products, as in taufu, into the diet. For those who love meat, chicken is a cheaper option to fish, she added.

She said a plate of nasi goreng (fried rice) could be nutritional if prepared with a variety of vegetables and eggs. “They could buy fried rice, and add carrots or fry more eggs at home.”

She advised parents not to prepare too much fried food due to the high oil content. She suggested that parents could marinate the meat, leave it in the fridge and bake it once they reach home in the evening.

For breakfast, Easaw advised that parents to plan their meals, as children could eat bread on Monday, a bun on Tuesday or nasi lemak on Wednesday.

“There has to be variety.”

Easaw has seen cases where a child just loved to drink milk. She advises mothers to add cashew nuts, almonds or fruits into the milk.

“There are a lot of ways. Parents will just have to think and plan. That is the only way to ensure the child and family are eating healthy food.

“Avoid buying junk food. Use that money to buy healthier food.” -FMT