SHAH ALAM: Health screenings on 266 children rescued from GISB Holdings Sdn Bhd (GISB) in Selangor revealed that 26.8% are stunted, says Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari.
The Selangor Mentri Besar said the screenings and examinations carried out by the Selangor Health Department in collaboration with private health experts from Nov 4 to 8 also found that 6.8% had serious stunting problems.
He also said mental health screening showed that 78 children suffer from depression, most at a mild level, while 89 suffer from anxiety.
He added that 22% of six-year-old children had speech problems.
"After two months at Social Welfare Department care centres, 38.6% had put on weight.
"A paediatrician or family medicine specialist reviewed the health screening results," he said, adding they would recommend which children need further intervention and treatment.
"Those in the moderate category will be referred to a counsellor or clinical psychologist while those in the severe category will be referred to a psychiatrist," he said at the presentation of a RM100,000 donation to the Selangor GISB Child Rehabilitation Task Force at Wisma Dewan Undangan Negeri here on Monday (Nov 19).
On the issue of religious beliefs, Amirudin said a survey on 176 children between the ages of four and 17 conducted by the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) and the Selangor Islamic Religion Department (Jais) found that the majority did not have critical belief problems.
"Only 10% had problems in critical beliefs while 15% had critical problems in Islamic practices," he said.
In terms of academics, Amirudin said the children from pre-school to senior secondary level had achieved a good level of Malay and Mathematics but had problems with English mastery.
However, he said eight children were unable to master aspects of academic learning and were categorised as students with special needs.
On the donation, Amirudin said it was to support the recovery plan of the Recovery Task Force for the children rescued from GISB charity homes, with a one-year target to achieve full recovery.
Donations can be submitted through Yayasan Islam Darul Ehsan which is responsible for coordinating the donations received for the rehabilitation of GISB children.
The Recovery Task Force team chaired by the state Islamic religion and culture innovation committee chairman Dr Mohammad Fahmi Ngah and women's development and social welfare committee chairman Anfaal Saari also included representatives from the police, Social Welfare Department and the Selangor Education Department.
Also involved were the Selangor Zakat Board, Mais, Jais, child psychology and education experts, Selangor Mentri Besar Incorporated (MBI) and Selgate Foundation. – Bernama
