From Plate to Brain: Dr Alvin Ng Featured in the Star

Dr Alvin Ng, the Associate Dean (International) of the School of Medical and Life Sciences, was recently featured in the Star. He wrote an article on why parents should be mindful of the food their children eat. Here is a short excerpt.

"In Malaysia, physical stunting is becoming a significant issue. I am part of a research group that has been monitoring stunting over the last ten years and we find that many of our children are not getting enough nutrients for their physical growth, especially Vitamin D, calcium and protein. This also affects their mental development that is usually observed in school results.Stunting is very much associated with late school entry, low grades, social isolation, poor social-emotional development, behavioural problems and fewer years of schooling.

Other than academic performance, poor cognitive functioning tends to result in psychological problems that usually extends to having social problems.Firstly, if you have difficulties with school work, you are likely to get scolded by teachers, or teased by classmates. Social-emotional development would then involve more negative experiences, leading to behavioural issues."

To read the full article, you may visit the link below.