Head of the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN), Hasto Wardoyo, delivered the statement during a meeting on formulating a strategy for accelerating the decline in stunting, here on Tuesday.
In 2021, the stunting rate decreased to 24.4 percent from 27.67 percent in 2019, he said. With that decline, 1.171 million babies are being born stunted in Indonesia every year, he explained.
According to Wardoyo, if one variable is added to the figure, which is the number of mothers giving birth, about 4.8 million babies are born stunted annually.
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Data shows that out of two million married couples in the country, 1.6 million are confirmed to be expecting a child in the first year of marriage, he highlighted.
According to Wardoyo, 390 thousand babies born to 24.4 percent of the 1.6 million couples are stunted. That proportion is still very significant if compared to the percentage of anemic children (48 percent) and teenagers who lack protein calories (36 percent), he pointed out.
Indonesia must try to maintain the existing number by evaluating and improving mothers' health before they enter pregnancy, Wardoyo said. If Indonesia can maintain the prevalence rate that has been achieved, the target of a 14-percent reduction in stunting can be realized by 2024, he added.
"The spirit is zero new stunting. This is our collective spirit, if we can do that then the 14-percent target can be achieved with optimism," Wardoyo added.
Related news: East Nusa Tenggara battles to combat childhood stunting
Translator: Hreeloita S, Kenzu T
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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