Over 70 percent Southeast Asian children fail to meet daily calcium, Vit D intake, says study

SHAH ALAM - Largest dairy cooperative company says more than 70 percent of children in Southeast Asia has failed to meet the average calcium and vitamin D intake needed daily.

Dutch Lady Milk Industries Berhad, owned by Dutch multinational dairy company Royal FrieslandCampina NV said base on a study on 14,000 children, aged five months to 12 years, it highlighted the coexistence of undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and overweight or obesity in four countries - Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The study followed the South East Asian Nutrition Surveys (SEANUTS I) conducted between 2019 and 2021 by leading universities and research institutes in the four countries, including Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

UKM's Professor Poh Bee Koon said health nutrition is about balance, moderation, as well as variety and children won’t be able to grow and develop properly without the nutrition they need.

"Our new study revealed that more than 70 percent of the children in all four countries did not meet the average needs for calcium and more than 84 percent did not meet the average vitamin D requirements.

"These numbers emphasises an urgent need to improve food security as well as the availability of food products that meet the children’s needs, thus increasing access to healthy nutrition,” he said.

One in four Malaysian children consumes a portion size of fewer than 100 ml of dairy, fewer than five times a week and one in three children in Malaysia do not eat breakfast.

"Research shows that stunted children with an unbalanced diet are more likely to suffer from anemia and iron deficiency.

"Poor nutrition also has a negative impact on children’s cognition and potentially on their future lives,” he added.

The survey was in collaboration with the University of Indonesia (in Indonesia); UKM; the Mahidol University (in Thailand) and the National Institute of Nutrition (in Vietnam).