AT A GLANCE
- Dual Health Crisis: Malaysia faces a "double burden" of malnutrition where 54.4 per cent of adults are overweight or obese, while child stunting rates have risen to 24.3 per cent.
- Economic Time Bomb: Experts warn that chronic nutritional deficiencies are compromising the cognitive and physical foundations of the future workforce, threatening Malaysia's high-income nation aspirations.
- Regional Outlier: Malaysia is reportedly the only Asean country recording an increase in child stunting, highlighting a development paradox where economic growth is not translating to healthier generations.
SHAH ALAM – Malaysia’s aspiration to become a high-income nation faces growing concern as more than half of its adult population is overweight or obese, while some children continue to suffer from stunted growth due to poor nutrition.
The paradox highlighted how excessive calorie intake did not necessarily reflect adequate nutrition, exposing the country to a health crisis that could become a “time bomb” for the future productivity of its workforce.
Health Ministry data through the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2023 (NHMS 2023) showed that 54.4 per cent of adults in the country were overweight or obese, compared with 44.5 per cent in 2011.
The Hidden Toll of Stunting
NHMS 2022 also reported that 21.2 per cent of children under the age of five suffered from stunting, a condition caused by chronic nutritional deficiencies that affected physical and brain development.
More alarmingly, Malaysia was reported to be the only Asean country to record an increase in stunting rates, rising from 19.3 per cent in 2000 to 24.3 per cent in 2024.
Women, Children and Community Development Select Committee chairman Yeo Bee Yin said stunting was not merely a matter of shorter physical stature, as it also affected brain development, academic achievement and children’s cognitive abilities.
“If this issue is not addressed now, we will not only face a health crisis, but also the risk of losing the potential of the country’s future generation,” she said.
Erosion of Physical Endurance
While stunting affected development internally, obesity gradually eroded physical endurance and long-term health.
The World Obesity Atlas 2026 report revealed that more than 2.85 million Malaysian children aged between five and 19 were overweight or living with obesity in 2025, with the figure expected to exceed 3.1 million by 2040.
The phenomenon of an “obese nation with malnourished children” reflected a development paradox in which economic growth did not necessarily guarantee healthier younger generations.
Quality of Human Capital
From an economic perspective, the crisis could affect the quality of human capital, a key factor in determining Malaysia’s ability to move higher within the global value chain.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Faculty of Health Sciences nutrition professor Professor Dr Poh Bee Koon said malnutrition from early childhood had long-term effects on public health and productivity.
She said children suffering from stunting were at risk of learning difficulties because brain development during early childhood was closely linked to cognitive ability and academic performance.
Chronic Double Burden
“In the long term, this condition also increases the risk of non-communicable diseases when nutritional deficiencies in early life are followed by unhealthy diets in adulthood.
“The impact is not only on individuals, but also on the country as workforce productivity becomes lower and economic development is affected,” she told Sinar Harian.
Poh said Malaysia was now facing a chronic double burden of malnutrition, where stunting and obesity occurred simultaneously within the population.
“This phenomenon can happen within the same individual or family. For example, parents may be obese while their child suffers from stunting due to diets high in calories but low in nutrients,” she said.
Integrated Intervention Needed
She also warned that nearly one in five Malaysians were at risk of dying before the age of 70 due to non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
The situation indirectly reflected the country’s major challenge in developing a generation that was genuinely healthy, productive and resilient in the future.
In an era driven by knowledge and technology-based economies, a nation’s strength no longer depended solely on infrastructure or investment, but also on the quality of human capital shaped from an early age.
The question remains whether Malaysia can successfully drive its economic transformation agenda if the biological and cognitive foundations of its future generation are already compromised from childhood.
Without integrated intervention involving maternal nutrition, nutrition education, healthier food environments and stricter obesity control measures, the country risks paying a heavy price through declining productivity and weakening competitiveness.