Survey: A third of children skip breakfast, many are obese

By LOH FOON FONG

KUALA LUMPUR: More than three-quarters of primary school children surveyed in a recent study hardly have vegetables and fruits in their diet.

The children also lead a sedentary life and more than a quarter of them are obese.

These are among the preliminary findings of the “Food habits and physical activity pattern of primary school children in Malaysia” survey.

The survey was carried out on Year One to Year Six pupils throughout the country (except for Malacca and Johor) from August 2007 to December 2008.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Department of Nutrition and Dietetics associate professor Dr Norimah A. Karim said the survey also showed that there was a growing number of rural children who were overweight and in some areas, the situation was worse than in urban areas.

The preliminary findings of the survey also concluded that of the 9,375 pupils interviewed, 2,802 of them did not have breakfast.

Most of them (45%) cited they did not have the time for breakfast, she said.

The other reasons given were: they were not hungry (22%), had no appetite (18%), did not have food (10%) and it was too early (5%).

“Three of 10 Malaysian children skip breakfast every day,” said Dr Norimah, who carried out the research with six other researchers from UKM.

Dr Norimah, who revealed the findings at a scientific conference organised by the Nutrition Society of Malaysia recently, said parents could give children easily prepared food such as fruits, milk and cereal.

The main aim of the study was to produce a nutritional status report on primary school children in Malaysia, which could be used as a reference for relevant agencies to raise public awareness.

The full report of the survey, which covers 13,000 students, including from Malacca and Johor will be announced in August.

This was a follow-up study, conducted between 2001 and 2002. Both were funded by Nestle Malaysia.