PETALING JAYA — More than 90,000 pupils aged between 10 and 12 suffered from stunted growth last year, says the Malaysian Education Ministry.

The ministry said this was based on the National Physical Fitness Standard and Body Mass Index analysis that the Health Ministry had conducted on 1,346,095 pupils within that age group in 2024.

Of the figure, 91,536 were in the stunted category.

“The Education Ministry recei­ves students from age five and above at its schools and some already had stunting problems even before they started school.

“Stunting stems from the lack of nutrition in the first 1,000 days starting from pregnancy up to the time when the child is two years old,” the ministry said in a recent Dewan Negara written reply.

It said the Education and Health Ministries have always been working closely to find a solution for the problem among students.

“Among the actions taken by the Education Ministry are nutrition education activities such as creating awareness and educa­ting students on full nutrition through the healthy eating campaign.

“Aside from that, the Supple­men­tary Food Programme also helps in the preparation of additional food for primary school pupils to improve their condition and physical health as well as dietary habits,” it said.

It added that through the programme, students would get to enjoy a balanced and nutritious diet.

File photo of young school girls in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. — AFP/VNA Photo

Both the Education and Health Ministries have come up with 20 selected menus whereby each item provides between 428 and 545 calories, which will meet the daily nutritional needs of primary school pupils.

“From 2021, this programme was improved with the distribution of milk daily to ensure that recipients receive enough nutrients from dairy sources,” the Education Ministry said.

It hoped that all parties, including parents, would help students suffering from stunted growth.

The ministry was responding to a question by Senator Dr Wan Martina Wan Yusoff who had asked for statistics of such cases according to states and whether there was a specific nutritional programme to address the issue.

In February, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the ministry was aiming to reduce the prevalence of stunted growth among children under five to 14.2 per cent by 2030.

This was after the National Health and Morbidity Survey showed that 21.2 per cent of children in the country experienced stunted growth in 2022.

“This marks a significant increase from 16.6 per cent in 2011, and we continue to see a rise in this growth disorder, which leads to stunting,” he said. — THE STAR/ANN