Almost 30% of young children in Malaysia suffer from stunted growth caused by "unhealthy diets" from both ends of the financial spectrum, says the Health Ministry.
Deputy Health Minister Lukanisman Awang Sauni said 29.7% of children within daycare age (zero to four years old) had or are currently suffering from stunted growth, according to ministry's data from the last five years.
Read more at https://shorturl.at/sBCUZ
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline
Deputy Health Minister Lukanisman Awang Sauni said 29.7% of children within daycare age (zero to four years old) had or are currently suffering from stunted growth, according to ministry's data from the last five years.
Read more at https://shorturl.at/sBCUZ
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline
Category
đ
NewsTranscript
00:00 Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. It is very complete and comprehensive.
00:07 Only a little while ago, about four or five years ago, when UNICEF announced the existence of Bantut or Stunting,
00:17 at the level of 27.1% in five of our children experienced it, we were shocked.
00:25 But NHMS confirmed it. My short question is,
00:31 is the measure of the size and how much marginalised groups can be handled well?
00:41 So, a measure of success. Since the last time, the matter has been put to rest until now.
00:46 Is there any progress from the Minister? Thank you.
00:52 Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. President.
01:02 We also admit that there is a problem with Bantut.
01:07 In the five years of this problem,
01:12 we have received information that 29.7% of children in Taska are suffering from Bantut.
01:24 There are several actions that we have taken,
01:28 especially in our country, where preventive care is a problem.
01:35 And when we introduce the 1000 days treatment,
01:42 starting from pregnancy to two years,
01:45 sometimes the society, especially the parents,
01:49 are reluctant to ignore the instructions to get treatment, especially for the children in Bantut.
01:58 And sometimes the society sees the children as cute,
02:05 while they are suffering from Bantut.
02:08 And also, in the health insurance paper,
02:12 we also emphasize that there is a collaboration between private and public.
02:17 And we cannot work in a silo.
02:20 So I urge every relevant ministries,
02:23 which involves children, to work with the KKM.
02:27 Especially the Ministry of Economy,
02:30 so that we can see the food supply for the poor communities,
02:36 and to pay attention to the food ingredients.
02:42 And I am also worried about the rising cost of living,
02:48 such as rice and other necessities.
02:51 And also, the rising cost of nutrition,
02:54 which will cause the parents to choose to get cheap food.
02:58 And also, pregnant mothers who do not take the best nutrition
03:04 to ensure their children are born healthy and not in Bantut.
03:09 And also, the effects of Bantut are very significant,
03:13 where the children in Bantut will be more exposed to diseases such as obesity.
03:19 And this will cause the productivity of the children to be affected.
03:23 And also, if the children are well-off,
03:27 the country's productivity in the future will also be affected
03:30 to produce the best results for the country.
03:33 The first 1000 days are important, Mr. Prime Minister.
03:36 The first 1000 days to determine the learning potential,
03:38 and finally, the earning potential.
03:40 That is very important.
03:42 I agree with you, Mr. Mohamad.
03:44 Thank you.
03:46 Mr. Sarus.
03:47 Thank you, Madam Speaker.
03:50 As we know, children are classified as Bantut
03:54 when they do not reach the level of their age.
03:59 This is based on the length or height of their growth.
04:04 This can happen when a child does not get quality food
04:09 and enough in a long period of time.
04:12 According to a study...
04:14 Questions, questions.
04:15 According to the National Health and Mobility Survey,
04:20 the child poverty is not limited to the poor,
04:24 but rather to the upper class.
04:26 Where about 22% and 17% of children from B40 and T20
04:33 experience the phenomenon of Bantut
04:35 which can affect their long-term health.
04:38 As a proactive step to address the issue of poverty and child poverty,
04:43 will the Ministry also increase cooperation
04:48 with agencies such as Pernas
04:50 under the ProMark health food programme
04:53 to provide quality food to low-income students,
04:57 including poor countries such as Kelantan, Tengah Hanukkah, and the police.
05:03 Second, how does the government monitor
05:07 the practice of providing healthy and balanced food
05:10 to children,
05:12 as opposed to the parents who fail to provide healthy food for their children.
05:18 Thank you.
05:20 Thank you, Mr. President.
05:26 Regarding the question,
05:31 there is cooperation between private and public initiatives
05:37 such as Ayasan Buhari
05:39 as it happened in Kedah.
05:41 Ayasan has provided food
05:46 for about RM6
05:49 to be distributed to schools
05:51 for B40 and the chosen group.
05:54 We are also eager to provide healthy food
06:00 to all children who have T20, M40, and B40.
06:07 However, this depends on the government's ability.
06:11 I agree that the problem of poverty
06:15 is not only for B40.
06:19 In our record,
06:21 in the past 5 years,
06:24 there have been problems of poverty in three countries,
06:27 such as Kelantan and Putrajaya,
06:30 in the top three,
06:32 where the majority of the population in Putrajaya
06:36 are educated.
06:38 We see that these groups take easy steps
06:41 because of the busyness and the extensive construction of work.
06:45 The food is always provided to these children as fast food.
06:53 This causes the problem of poverty to occur.
06:57 I would like to take an example.
06:59 I cannot name the school name clearly.
07:01 It is a Chinese school,
07:05 called Qingquan Huyu in Mua.
07:08 They have a community work group
07:11 where the parents provide the same food
07:15 to all teachers and children
07:18 so that the food is of good quality and nutritious.
07:21 I see that this is a good thing.
07:25 If we only depend on food schemes like RMT,
07:29 where sometimes the workers provide sausages and rice,
07:34 the parents may have the time to cook together
07:39 and provide the food with love.
07:43 This will make the children more interested
07:46 in cooking and nutritious food.
07:49 In addition, through the White Paper of Health,
07:53 we will strengthen the public-private initiative
07:56 with the cooperation of other ministries.
08:00 As I have emphasized,
08:02 we cannot work in silos.
08:04 Sometimes, the ministries can work together.
08:09 We provide the same food.
08:12 If possible, we would like to establish food banks
08:16 that are distributed by all ministries to the people and children
08:19 through the menus that we pass
08:23 and we suggest with permission.
08:26 That is my answer.
08:27 That's all. Thank you.
08:28 Thank you.
08:29 [END]