KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 — Malaysia has regressed in childhood stunting over the past two decades, as stunting in children aged under five increased from 19 per cent in 2000 to 24 per cent in 2024.
According to global research non-profit Our World in Data, Malaysia’s childhood stunting was 24.3 per cent in 2024, higher than Indonesia (22.6 per cent), Cambodia (22 per cent), Vietnam (19.2 per cent), and Thailand (12.3 per cent).
Remarkably, Malaysia was the only country to have regressed in childhood stunting over the past two decades, unlike Bangladesh, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand that made improvements.
Malaysia’s childhood stunting rate was on a downward trend from 2000 to 2011, but began rising from 2012.
Our World in Data noted that Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita almost doubled since 2000, now more than three times higher than that of Cambodia, Laos, and Bangladesh, and more than double that of Indonesia and Vietnam.
“But if we look at measures of childhood nutrition, Malaysia is not doing better,” Our World in Data deputy editor Hannah Ritchie wrote on X last January 18.
“While its neighbors have made progress on childhood stunting — the share of children under 5 who are too short for their age — Malaysia has regressed. In 2000, 20 per cent of children were “stunted”, and this has increased to 24 per cent.
“Malaysia also stands out at a global level. When we plot the share of children who are stunted against GDP per capita, the country is a clear outlier for its level of income. Most other countries at this level of economic development have rates below 10 per cent.”
Our World in Data also highlighted that Malaysia has one of the highest rates of childhood wasting – when a child’s weight is too low for their height – in the region.
“The country is off track or worsening on most global nutrition targets.”
According to the Our World in Data chart, Thailand’s childhood stunting rate has consistently remained below Malaysia since 2000. Vietnam’s childhood stunting was as high as 41 per cent in 2000, but fell below Malaysia from 2019.
Indonesia also started out with a very high childhood stunting rate at nearly 40 per cent in 2000, but performed better than Malaysia from 2023.
Singapore’s childhood stunting was as low as 4.4 per cent in 2000, declining to 2.8 per cent in 2024.
Ex-Klang MP: Malaysia’s Stunting Crisis A Policy Failure
Former Klang MP Charles Santiago described stunting in Malaysia as a “national emergency” and a “policy failure”.
“When children’s growth is permanently impaired by malnutrition, it isn’t just their bodies that suffer; their cognitive development, learning capacity, and future livelihoods are damaged for life,” he wrote in a series of tweets yesterday.
“A country that prides itself on development cannot normalise children growing up smaller, weaker, and more vulnerable simply because the system failed them before they could even speak.
“What makes this crisis even more disturbing is that it is entirely preventable. Stunting is not caused by rare diseases or genetic conditions. It is driven by poverty, food insecurity, poor maternal nutrition, inadequate health care access, and structural inequality.
“In other words, this is not a medical failure. It is a governance failure. It reflects policy choices, budget priorities, and political neglect.”
The former DAP lawmaker pointed out that Malaysia spends billions of ringgit on mega projects, bailouts, and prestige infrastructure, yet allows children to grow up undernourished in both rural and urban communities.
The families most affected by childhood stunting, Charles said, are low-income households, refugees, migrant communities, undocumented populations, Indigenous groups, and the urban poor.
“If Malaysia is serious about being a developed nation, stunting must be treated as a national security issue, not a welfare footnote. It affects education outcomes, workforce productivity, health care costs, and long-term economic resilience.”
Health Minister: No ‘Quick Fixes’, Outcomes Will Take Generations
Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad described malnutrition as a “perennial legacy” issue that he inherited.
“Like other public health problems, there are no ‘quick fixes’. It will surely take generations to see the outcomes or results,” he posted on X last Sunday.
He touted a “whole-of-government” approach involving the Ministry of Health (MOH), the Ministry of Education (MOE), and the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry (KPWKM) in nutritional interventions at schools and kindergartens.
Dzulkefly added that the Ministry of Health (MOH) has started a First 1,000 Days of Life longitudinal study in Langkawi involving birth cohorts from 2025 to 2028.
In February 2025, the health minister had said the MOH aims to reduce the prevalence of childhood stunting to 14.2 per cent by 2030.
Unlike neighbouring countries that have shown continued declines in childhood stunting from 2000, Malaysia’s childhood stunting is on an upward trajectory.
