Rural child malnutrition and unsuccessful outcome of food basket programme: does ethnicity matter?

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of malnutrition among five-year-olds and factors associated with unsuccessful outcome of a Food Basket Programme (FBP) in a rural district of Kelantan, Malaysia. Design: Administrative health records from selected health clinics were reviewed. Study sample includes indigenous population or Orang Asli of Malaysia. Unsuccessful outcome was defined according to failure to complete the programme according to growth gain and on-time. Multiple logistics regression was used to assess the associated factors of unsuccessful outcome of FBP. Results: This study showed that the prevalence rates of malnutrition among children below five years old were 34.2% underweight, 16.4% thinness, 32.5% stunting and 3.0% overweight, with Orang Asli children faring the worse. Orang Asli children were also five times more likely to be unsuccessful in the FBP ( p  < .001). Conclusion: Malnutrition is still prevalent among children below five years old in this rural setting and Orang Asli children are vulnerable to have an unsuccessful outcome from the Food Basket Programme. Further research is necessary to further explain this association to inform policy, specifically for Orang Asli children.