For many decades now, Abbott, a global healthcare leader, has dedicated their effort to advancing and sharing the latest science to develop nutrition products to help people live their healthiest selves.
Two of its brands, PediaSure and Isomil Plus, emerged as winners in the BabyTalk & MamaPapa Readers’ Choice Awards 2020 under the categories of Child Nutritional Supplement and Soy Milk Formula For Children respectively. George Mountrichas, General Manager of Abbott’s Nutrition Business in Malaysia recently expressed gratitude towards Malaysian parents for their trust in the superior products for generations. “Food refusal and cow’s milk protein allergy (CMPA) are among the conditions that require special attention. Knowing our result-backed products have been helping alleviate parent’s worries by improving nutritional standards for children motivates us to do what we do,” he stated.
PediaSure is a specifically formulated, balanced child nutritional supplement that supports 50% faster growth (1) result as well as catch up growth for those who may be falling off the growth chart. A supplementation of two glasses a day can help children in terms of improved appetite, height and weight as well as lesser sick days (2).
Isomil Plus, a special soy-based formula, is helpful for children with cow’s milk sensitivity, lactose intolerance and other special feeding needs. In addition to being lactose-free, Isomil Plus provides all the essential nutrients growing bodies need to thrive, in an easily digestible formula.
“With our scientists and experts working hard to discover and develop exceptional nutrition products, we are proud to continue driving this innovation to make a real impact on the quality of life of our customers.
Through Abbott’s winning brands like PediaSure and Isomil Plus, we aim to engage parents beyond products, by advocating better understanding on the importance of nutrition and context on growth challenges in children such as faltering growth, stunting, CMPA, and lactose intolerance. Parents as well as healthcare professionals can look forward to future announcements on our latest innovations, education and resources that can help them support better care for our future generation,” Mr Mountrichas shared.
Mr Mountrichas finds that many of the foods for children are full of empty calories and poor nutritional benefits leading children in Malaysia to bigger risk of faltered growth including stunting. Left unaddressed, this could result in long-term adverse social and economic impact on our children, healthcare system and country. The National Health and Morbidity Survey 2019 (3) revealed that the prevalence of stunting among children under the age of 5 in Malaysia has continued to worsen, affecting 21.8% or 1 in 5 children, an increase from 17.7% in 2015 and 16.6% in 2011.
To aid parents to check and monitor their child’s growth, the PediaSure GrowthCam was developed (available at https://pediasure.com.my/). Parents can now easily gauge if their children are on the right growth track according to their gender and age, make better adjustments, and speak to their paediatricians if they have any concerns.
Food refusal and feeding tantrums may also be early signs of food allergies and other underlying health issues, hence parents should consult their paediatricians for a clear diagnosis. “It can be frustrating though when little ones are vomiting, or are having stomach discomfort or loose stool and parents aren’t sure what to do. This is why we developed a Symptom Tracker test (https://abbottnutrition.com.my/tolerancesymptoms) that allows parents to identify allergies indicators in their children and guide them on feeding requirements to mitigate the issues,” Mr Mountrichas generously revealed. For children to experience a healthy and fulfilling childhood, provide them with a complete nutritional formula that supports the sufficient nutrients that they need, with results you can prove.
(1) Alarcon PA, et al. Effect of Oral Supplementation on Catch-Up. Growth in Picky Eaters. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2003 Apr; 42(3):209-17. 50% is based on calculated value.
(2) Huynh DTT et al. 5th International Conference on Nutrition & Growth 2018. Oral nutritional supplementation improved linear growth in Filipino children at nutritional risk.
(3) National Health and Morbidity Survey 2019: Factsheet. Available from http://iku.moh.gov.my/images/IKU/Document/REPORT/NHMS2019/Fact_Sheet_NHMS_2019-English.pdf. Last accessed 2 March 2021.
