Jakarta, IO – The 2021 Indonesian Toddler Nutrition Survey Status data shows that the national stunting rate is 24.4%, down 6.4% from 30.8% in 2018. The 2024 National Medium-Term Development Plan target is to reduce stunting down to 14%. In order to achieve this ambitious target, we need everyone’s cooperation to ensure that Indonesian children can reach optimal growth.
Dr. (HC) dr. Hasto Wardoyo, Sp.OG(K), Head of the National Population and Family Planning Board (Badan Kependudukan dan Keluarga Berencana Nasional – “BKKBN”), declares that there are three factors that cause stunting: first, sub-optimal health, because of an unhealthy and unhygienic environment. Second, sub-optimal nutrition because of poverty or neglect. Third, sub-optimal parenting. “In stunting prevention, the impact of the environment is 70%. The child’s living environment must be clean and healthy – they must be provided with good plumbing, and have sufficient clear, clean, unpolluted water. They must have sufficient protein intake, and their parents must be given proper guidelines to educate the children according to the dictates of the ages,” he declared in the press release he issued to the Independent Observer.
Separately, dr. Kristin Tjandra of Prodia Children Health Care states that a healthy child will grow and develop into a healthy adult. “What is meant by ‘growth’ is that they become physically bigger, while ‘develop’ means that they have better, more complex mental structure and bodily functions. We need to make sure that these two points are achieved according to their age, only then can we say that the child has grown and developed properly,” she said.