Sri Lanka, June 4 -- More than one in five schoolchildren in Sri Lanka suffer from malnutrition.

The Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Anil Jasinghe, shared this information during a media briefing at the Health Promotion Bureau held in conjunction with National Nutrition Month. Dr. Anil Jasinghe warned that children experiencing malnutrition face a risk of developing obesity later in life.

Recent survey data on children under and over the age of five indicates that stunting stands at 10.1% and underweight at 16.1%, while overweight levels remain relatively low at 0.5%. Dr. Anil Jasinghe stated that these figures indicate nearly one-fifth of children suffer from malnutrition, adding that in such a context, children often transiti...