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TABLE 1. Population distribution, Malaysia, 1988

 

Peninsar

Malaysia

Sabah

Sarawak

Total

'000s

%

'000s

%

'000s

%

'000s

%

Total

14,017

82.5

1,373

8.1

1,591

9.4

16,981

100

Rural

Urban

8,247

5,770

58.8

41.2

1,054

319

76.8

23.2

1,215

376

76.4

23.6

10,516

6,465

61.9

38.1

Malay

Chinese

Indian and
others

8,069

4,471

1,477

57.6

31.9

10.5

1,174

189

10

85.5

13.8

0.7

1,113

458

20

69.9

28.8

1.3

10,356

5,118

1,507

61.0

30.1

8.9

source: Ref. 3.

Percentages in the first horizontal row are percentages of the total population of Malaysia; other percentages arc percentages of the totals for their respective columns.

TABLE 2. Mean body weights of Malaysians (kilograms)

Age
(years)

Muar childrena

Composite datab

Index valuesc
 

M

F

M

F

M

F

0+
1+
32+
4+

-
-
-
-

-
-
-
-

7.3
-
-
-

7.1
-
-
-

6.6
9.8
12.8
14.4

6.1
9.1
12.8
14.4

5+
6+

-
-

-
16.4

16.2
16.4

16.1
17.7

15.5
17.4

7+
8+
9+
10+
11 +

17.8
19.5
20.7
24.2
27.0

18.6
18.7
21.8
24.0
28.5

18.9
21.3
21.8
25.6
31.0

17.6
20.2
22.9
25.8
33.4

19.4
21.1
22.9
25.0
26.7

18.7
20.8
23.3
25.3
29.3

12+
13+
14+
15+
16+

29.5
32.5
35.3
-
-

30.0
-
-
-
-

36.0
44.7
45.7
49.8
55.8

35.6
41.8
44.1
43.9
46.0

30.0
34.2
41.6
45.4
49.9

31.9
36.5
40.0
44.6
46.4

17+
18-29+
30-59+
> 60

-
-
-
-

-
-
-
-

57.2
59.3
58.2
51.2

50.7
48.0
52.8
49.5

51.9
55.6
55.6
55.6

47.2
48.1
48.1
48.1

a. Ref 4. b Ref. 5. c. Ref. 2.

Despite this healthy surplus, inequitable distribution of income will inevitably still leave many individuals below the minimum calorie requirement, although the national average requirement is satisfied. The gap is widest among the poor, whether they live in rural villages or urban slums. One study found the consumption of calories to be 22% below the availability average in rural areas of Malaysia and 15% below in urban areas [9]. The deficit is even greater if the data are reported as percentages of the recommended daily intake (RDI) [10].

TABLE 3. Prevalence of stunting and underweight in poverty villages in Malaysia.

Age (years)

N

Stunting (%)

Underweight

(%)

0-5.99)
6-11.99

boys
girls

>18
men
women

726


460
501


522
965

43


49
35


-
-

37


38
23


45
31

source: Ref. 5.

Although in recent years many food-intake studies have been reported in Malaysia, comparative analysis is difficult because of a lack of uniformity in datacollection techniques and criteria. The findings of a summary of several studies of food intake in various age groups [11, 12] are presented in table 6 as percentages of the RDI. Generally, most of the subjects studied were from low- to middle-income strata, with the exception of pregnant mothers attending private clinics. Calories appear to be the limiting nutrient in most age groups, a finding that is in agreement with several other studies [6, 13-15]. Indeed, many studies in recent years have revealed exceptionally low energy intakes in supposedly healthy populations in developing countries.

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