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Volume 9, Jul - Sep 2026
Building the Foundation of Lifelong Health: The First 1,000 Days as Malaysia's Child Health Priority
Teck-Hock Toh1,2, Agnes Suganthi Thinakaran3, Nur Shuhaidatul Sarmiza Abdul Halim4, Intan Juliana Abd Hamid4
The first 1,000 days of life represent a critical window for shaping lifelong health, development, and the ability to cope with adversity. This paper brings together evidence highlighting three interconnected priorities: equity, systems, and advocacy; nutrition and nurturing care; and the early reco...
Advocating Breastfeeding: From Hospital to Home
Teh Siao Hean
The first 1,000 days of life represent a critical window for establishing optimal health, growth, and neurodevelopment. Breastfeeding plays a central role during this period, conferring well-documented benefits for infant survival, immunity, cognitive development, and long-term metabolic health, whi...
The First 1,000 Days: Roles and Responsibilities of Pediatricians in Malaysia
Ker Yang Chua1, Aina Mariana Abdul Manaf1, Sabeera Begum Kader Ibrahim1
The first 1,000 days of a child’s life is a critical period, affecting future well-being. There are many parties involved in optimizing this future potential, with different main drivers during different periods within 1,000 days. Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia recognizes the importance and has...
The First 1,000 Days: Building Foundations for Lifelong Health Through Collaborative Child Health Systems
Teck-Hock Toh1,2,3, Agnes Suganthi Thinakaran4, Su-Fang Ng5, Haiza Hani Hamidon6, Khanisa Md Khalid7, Lay-Tin Tan8, Aw-Zien Toh2,9, Yen-Lin Teoh10, Aina Mariana Abdul Manaf11
Background: The first 1,000 days of life, from conception to a child’s second birthday, represent a unique period for growth, neurodevelopment, and biological programming. Experiences during this period shape lifelong health, development, educational attainment, productivity, and human potential.
...
Leaving No Child Behind: Equity in the First 1,000 Days
Amar-Singh HSS1, Srividhya Ganapathy2
Background: The first 1,000 days of life, from conception to a child’s second birthday, lay the base for later health, learning and economic well-being. Malaysia’s national averages obscure a deepening equity gap: marginalised communities record stunting, maternal anaemia, and preventable under-...
Developing and Scaling Up Interactive Kangaroo Mother Care Training in Malaysia: Insights from the Kirkpatrick Training Evaluation Model
Siew Cheng Foong1, Wai Cheng Foong2, May Loong Tan3, Jacqueline J Ho4
Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is an evidence-based intervention recommended by the World Health Organization to improve outcomes for preterm and low birth weight infants. However, implementation in Malaysia has been limited, with insufficient training identified as a key barrier.
This brief report d...
One in Five: Why Stunting is Malaysia's Most Urgent Health Emergency
Peter Gan Kim Soon1
Background: Childhood stunting remains one of the most persistent public health failures in Malaysia. Despite decades of economic growth, expanding health services, and successive national nutrition plans, 21.2% of Malaysian children under five were stunted in 2022, rising to a WHO-modelled estimate...
Parenting that Works Toward Raising a Resilient Generation: Insights from a Multistakeholder Forum on Parenting and Child Development
Aw-Zien Toh1,2, Amalina Annuar3, Khanisa Md Khalid4, Shu-Xin Teh5, Jo-Ee Lam6, Teck-Hock Toh2,7,8
Background: Resilience is increasingly recognized as an important determinant of child and adolescent health. However, it is often misunderstood as an individual trait characterized by toughness, perseverance, or success achieved through adversity.
Objective: To synthesize key insights from a multi...
Kwashiorkor: A Case Series from Miri General Hospital, Sarawak – An Under-Recognised Public Health Concern
Hii King Ching1, Chin Kar Pui1, Janet Leu SH1
Background: Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) remains an important contributor to childhood morbidity and mortality globally. Kwashiorkor is frequently under-recognized because clinical oedema conceals tissue wasting and distorts body weight measurements, leading to initial diagnostic oversight in pri...
Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD) Presenting as Neonatal Encephalopathy - The first reported case in Sarawak.
Jia Ni Lee², Kiew Siong Lau³, Huong Yew Ting⁴, Yek Kee Chor5, Kho Lee Ling¹
Background: Maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder of branched-chain amino acid metabolism that may present in the neonatal period with non-specific symptoms, resulting in delayed diagnosis and significant neurological morbidity. Early recognition remains particularl...
Not All That Wheezes Is Asthma: A Near-Fatal Case of Bilateral Bronchi Obstruction from Peanut Aspiration
Angie Choo Er Ng 1, Khee Wei Yeo 2, Li Ying Soo 3, Ghoon Hoong Cheh 4
Background: Foreign body ingestion and aspiration are among the five most commonly reported exposures reported in children younger than 5 years. We present a case of delayed recognition of peanut aspiration in a toddler presenting with progressive respiratory failure.
Aim: To describe the present...
When A Cradle Conceals Danger: Neonatal Appendiceal Perforation – A Case Report
Angerica Praveeta Santhosam¹, Sakti Thillai², Siti Farah Sophia MN³, Nur Zani AH⁴, Syahmi A², Shovena Kumar², M. Munirah Ain⁴, Asuwani Maran¹
Bilious vomiting in the neonatal period mandates urgent evaluation, classically raising concern for intestinal obstruction. Inflammatory intra-abdominal pathology may masquerade as obstructive disease, creating significant diagnostic ambiguity. We report a term neonate born via caesarean section to ...
Giant Bladder Calculi: A Rare Cystinuria-Associated Nephrolithiasis in Rural Paediatrics
Nur Iffah Abdullah1, Wan Mariam Wan Hassan1, Muhammad Aiman Shuib1
Background: Pediatric giant bladder calculi (vesicolithiasis) are uncommon and rare. It is more frequently reported in adolescents. In the pediatric population, predisposing factors differ from those in adults and typically include urinary stasis secondary to obstruction, congenital anomalies of the...
When iron deficiency is not the whole story: unicentric Castleman disease presenting as persistent microcytic anemia in a child
Siti Akma Ishak¹*, Khairi Fatimah Muhamad Jamil¹, Siti Sarah Mohd Shaher¹, Aniqah A. Mokhti², Nurul Akmar Misron³
Introduction: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the most common cause of microcytic anemia in children and generally responds well to oral iron therapy. If the therapy fails, alternative causes need to be determined. Unicentric Castleman disease (UCD), a rare lymphoproliferative disorder, can mimic ch...
Crawling Under The Skin - A Case Report of Cutaneous Larva Migrans in a 2-month-old Baby
Ong Yun Jin1, Agnes Suganthi A/P Thinakaran2, Tan Sheng Chai3, Ng Su Yuen3
Introduction: Cutaneous larva migrans is characterized by serpiginous, creeping skin lesions caused by animal hookworm larvae and is commonly encountered in tropical and subtropical regions. The larvae are excreted in animal feces, contaminate soil or sand, and penetrate human skin upon direct conta...
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Publish Date: September - 2026
A P J P C H
ISSN: 2637-1308
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Language : English
Disclaimer: The Views and opinions expressed in the articles are of the authors and not of the journal.
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