The ‘other epidemic’ hit kids hard

Learning skills: Children enjoying activities at Lil’ Ninjas Dojo at Atria Shopping Gallery in Petaling Jaya. Such activities are healthy for their development.

PETALING JAYA: With over 400,000 children in the country believed to have been struggling against mental health issues even in the pre-pandemic days, experts say things could only have got worse with Covid-19 anxiety.

A National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) survey in 2019 found some 424,000 children fighting to cope with mental health issues, indicating that the problem had reached epidemic proportions even then.