IMFed celebrates 10th anniversary with call for continued effort against malnutrition in childhood, adolescent

The Malaysian Paediatric Association (MPA) recently celebrated the 10^th anniversary of IMFeD* for Growth’s (IMFeD). IMFeD was launched in 2012 to tackle the problem of feeding difficulties in children.

In conjunction with the event, Professor Dr Lee Way Seah, a senior consultant paediatric gastroenterologist and hepatologist at University Malaya Specialist Centre, shared the next plan of action for 2023–2027. Lee, who is chair of IMFeD, said the upcoming phase will focus on three thrusts. “The first involves extending its scope from the initial 1–5 years to 1–17 years to enable IMFeD to detect and manage growth faltering wherever it may occur in childhood and adolescence.”

The second lies in capacity building of healthcare professionals. “HCPs play a vital role in the fight against childhood stunting. They are the best guiding voices to help parents and children who may be falling behind. Thus, we plan to organize training for general practitioners, medical officers, family medicine specialists, and nurses in private and public clinics. This will help ensure that growth can continue to be prioritized in urban and rural environments, affluent and lower socio-economic settings,” said Lee.

Finally, the IMFeD screening and counselling campaign will be ramped up to benefit more children and adolescents each year.

The expansion of the IMFeD For Growth programme follows the recent announcement by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin on the ‘2022–2030 National Strategic Plan to Address the Problem of Stunting in Children’ while aiming to reduce child stunting to 8 percent by 2030.

IMFeD over the years
Since its inception in 2012, IMFeD has been led by a group of specialists, including paediatricians, dietitians, and psychologists.

According to Dr Selva Kumar Sivapunniam, MPA’s president, the first phase (2012–2017) centred on the programme’s namesake, which was identification and management of feeding difficulties in children aged 1–5 years. In its second phase (2018–2022), the programme expanded its scope to include screening for growth faltering and intervention to prevent stunting. Over 200 participating clinics carried out over 100,000 growth screening on children to identify risk of stunting and to advise parents on how to manage the situation with appropriate nutritional and lifestyle interventions.

Children are considered stunted when they are too short for their age. Selva said: “Malaysia has among the highest childhood stunting rates in the region, affecting 1-in-5 (21.8 percent) children aged 5 years and below, and around 1-in-12 (8.2 percent) adolescents. This problem can be found across both urban and rural families, irrespective of socioeconomic status.” [Available at https://iku.moh.gov.my/images/IKU/Document/REPORT/NHMS2019/Fact_Sheet_NHMS_2019-English.pdf Accessed on 25 July 2022] Selva added that stunting is associated with reduced immunity, cognitive impairment, increased risk of chronic diseases, and reduced socioeconomic opportunities in adulthood. As such, stunting is a worrying condition.

According to Lee, of all the factors that may contribute to stunting in children, the most common is undernutrition. He added that good nutrition is crucial to children’s growth and development at all stages, especially during the formative period of 1–5 years old, and early adolescence at 10–15 years of age. Nutrients such as protein, calcium and vitamin D improve bone and muscle development, while micronutrients like arginine and vitamin K2 support longer and stronger bones for optimal height gain.

MOH lauds the IMFeD
Khairy, who was there to officiate the occasion, congratulated the MPA for 10 successful years of the IMFeD for Growth programme. He said: “Your effort and contributions over the last decade have been essential to the prevention of stunting in our children.”

He highlighted several endeavours currently being undertaken by the MOH which include:

·        The Child Health 2021–2030 National Framework to Reduce Under-5 Mortality and Support Child Growth and Development

·        Guide on Prevention and Management of Cases with Malnutrition Risk in Children below 5 years of age [Available at https://fh.moh.gov.my/v3/index.php/component/jdownloads/send/20-sektor-kesihatan-kanak-kanak/758-buku-a4-mulnutrisi-28-dis-2020?Itemid=0 Accessed on 25 July 2022]

·        The National Strategic Plan to Combat Malnutrition 2022–2030

The National Strategic Plan (NSP) to Combat Malnutrition 2022–2030 has four phases and five key strategies:

·        Consolidation of dietary wellbeing administration through legislation, political commitment, and greater involvement of stakeholders

·        Better quality and access to healthcare to combat malnutrition

·        Creating a more conducive environment for children’s wellbeing

·        Empowering individuals to encourage the wellbeing of children

·        The dietary health of children

Khairy said the NSP will be presented to the Ministry of Finance and Cabinet to get it recognized as a national agenda in Budget 2023. “Last month I launched the Special Committee to Combat the Double Burden of Malnutrition Among Children in Malaysia with our #AnakMalaysiaSihat programme. This media programme is a strategic collaboration between the MOH and University Putra Malaysia. It is an initiative to create awareness about malnutrition that is on the rise in children and contains strategies to overcome it.”