THE Health Ministry has raised the alarm over a worsening dual burden of malnutrition among Malaysian children, with both undernutrition and increasing obesity now posing serious threats to future generations.
Deputy Health Minister Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni told the Dewan Rakyat today that the situation was becoming more evident and could have long-term implications for children’s development and national health outcomes.
“Childhood malnutrition today is not only about undernutrition but also about rising obesity due to the consumption of unhealthy foods,” he said. “However, the problem we face is that parents are not bringing their children to the clinics. This makes it difficult for the Health Ministry to distribute food baskets and provide guidance and advice to them.”
Lukanisman said the ministry would seek the support of the Ministry of Economy to explore a more comprehensive healthy eating programme that would include collaboration with other ministries and industry players willing to contribute.
He was responding to a question from Datuk Dr Alias Razak (PN–Kuala Nerus) regarding the prevalence of undernutrition among Malaysian children.
Lukanisman said the Health Ministry was already implementing multiple initiatives under the Healthy Food Assistance programme to address the problem.
“These include the Child Undernutrition Rehabilitation Programme, better known as the Food Basket Programme, which has been running since 1989 and targets children from hardcore poor families,” he said. “The programme focuses on children aged six months to six years suffering from undernutrition and has since been expanded to include children from low-income households.”
He added that the Community Feeding Programme targets Orang Asli children in remote areas and children living in selected People’s Housing Projects (PPR), aged one to six, in localities identified as having high rates of undernutrition.
“We also implement a Milk Assistance Programme for children aged six months to six years from hardcore poor and poor families who are at risk of undernutrition,” he said.
Lukanisman said the ministry would continue improving existing programmes, enhancing collaboration with other ministries and non-governmental organisations, and strengthening nutrition literacy initiatives to build greater public awareness of healthy eating. - November 17, 2025
