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Accepted manuscript

Triple burden of malnutrition among Malaysian children aged 6 months to 12 years: Current findings from SEANUTS II Malaysia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2023

Bee Koon Poh ,
Jyh Eiin Wong Open the ORCID record for Jyh Eiin Wong [Opens in a new window] ,
Shoo Thien Lee ,
Jasmine Siew Min Chia ,
Giin Shang Yeo Open the ORCID record for Giin Shang Yeo [Opens in a new window] ,
Razinah Sharif ,
Safii Nik Shanita ,
Nor Aini Jamil ,
Caryn Mei Hsien Chan  and
Nor MF Farah
...Show all authors
Bee Koon Poh*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
Jyh Eiin Wong
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
Shoo Thien Lee
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, Management & Science University, 40100 Selangor, Malaysia;
Jasmine Siew Min Chia
Affiliation:
School of Pharmacy, Management & Science University, 40100 Selangor, Malaysia;
Giin Shang Yeo
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
Razinah Sharif
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
Safii Nik Shanita
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
Nor Aini Jamil
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
Caryn Mei Hsien Chan
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
Nor MF Farah
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
Mohd Jamil Sameeha
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
Denise Koh
Affiliation:
Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Selangor, Malaysia;
Nur Zakiah Mohd Saat
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
See Meng Lim
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
A. Karim Norimah
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
Abd. Talib Ruzita
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
Siti Balkis Budin
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
Lei Hum Wee
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; School of Medicine, Taylor’s University, 47500 Selangor, Malaysia;
Swee Fong Tang
Affiliation:
Specialist Children’s Hospital, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
Ilse Khouw
Affiliation:
FrieslandCampina, Amersfoort, The Netherlands.
*
*Corresponding author: Bee Koon Poh, National Coordinator, the SEANUTS II Malaysia Study Group, Centre for Community Health Studies (ReaCH), Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA,Tel: +603-92897686, Fax: +603-26947621, Email: pbkoon@ukm.edu.my
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Abstract

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Objective:

This paper aims to report South East Asian Nutrition Surveys (SEANUTS) II Malaysia data on nutritional status, dietary intake, and nutritional biomarkers of children aged 6 months to 12 years.

Design:

Cross-sectional survey conducted in 2019-2020.

Setting:

Multistage cluster sampling conducted in Central, Northern, Southern, and East Coast regions of Peninsular Malaysia.

Participants:

2989 children aged 0.5-12.9 years.

Results:

Prevalences of stunting, thinness, overweight, and obesity among children aged 0.5-12.9 years were 8.9%, 6.7%, 9.2%, and 8.8%, respectively. Among children below 5 years old, 11.4% were underweight, 13.8% had stunting, and 6.2% wasting. Data on nutritional biomarkers showed a small proportion of children aged 4-12 years had iron (2.9%) and vitamin A deficiencies (3.1%). Prevalence of anaemia was distinctly different between children below 4 years old (40.3%) and those aged 4 years and above (3.0%). One-fourth of children (25.1%) had vitamin D insufficiency, which was twice as prevalent in girls (35.2% vs. boys: 15.6%). The majority of children did not meet the recommended dietary intake for calcium (79.4%) and vitamin D (94.8%).

Conclusions:

Data from SEANUTS II Malaysia confirmed that triple burden of malnutrition co-exists among children in Peninsular Malaysia, with higher prevalence of overnutrition than undernutrition. Anaemia is highly prevalent among children below 4 years old, while vitamin D insufficiency is more prevalent among girls. Low intakes of dietary calcium and vitamin D are also of concern. These findings provide policymakers with useful and evidence-based data to formulate strategies that address the nutritional issues of Malaysian children.

Keywords

ChildrenDietary intakeMalnutritionNutritional biomarkersNutritional status
Type
Research Paper
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Accepted manuscript , pp. 1 - 36
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Authors 2023