Summary

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• Children in Malaysia suffer from the double burden of malnutrition: under-nutrition (including micro-nutrient deficiency) and obesity. Statistics suggest that many children do not meet the recommended intake of important nutrients. By contrast, consumption of fast food, which typically has adverse nutritional consequences, is common.

• School feeding can address these problems with benefits for children’s health, education and social development. Moreover, it reduces household food expenses and increases disposable income, especially important for low-income households. If designed and implemented well, procurement for school feeding programs can transform local food agriculture and improve smallholder farmers’ incomes.

• Two school feeding programs in Malaysia are the Rancangan Makanan Tambahan (RMT) and Program Hidangan Berkhasiat di Sekolah (HiTS). More critical evaluations must be carried out to assess these programmes. Further cooperation among all relevant ministries and local stakeholders is a prerequisite for improving and extending school feeding.

• There is a need to consider expanding school feeding. While most poor children suffer from malnutrition, including undernourishment, many children from higher-income households also suffer from malnutrition, albeit not from undernourishment. The benefits of school feeding go far beyond health and education, making it a high return investment in our children.