Deputy Mayor of Batam, Amsakar Achmad, stated that the stunting rate recorded in the buffer islands, including in the district of Belakangpadang, located adjacent to Singapore, was relatively smaller than the data on children on the main island.
"This is since the nutrition provided is sufficient. Protein is abundant, and there are lots of fresh fish," he noted on Belakangpadang Island on Wednesday.
Of the 1,168 Belakangpadang children that were measured, only 22, or 1.88 percent, had stunted growth.
Other buffer island sub-districts too had a similar trend wherein their stunting rate was low.
In Galang Sub-district, of the 941 children measured, only 27, or 2.8 of them, experienced stunting, while in Bilang, 63 out of the 971 children were stunted.
"For the entire hinterlands, of the 3,080 children measured, 112 are stunted. The number of children with stunting as compared to healthy children is recorded at 3.6 percent," he remarked.
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On the main island, of the approximately 52 thousand children measured, 3,244, or 6.2 percent of them, suffer from stunting.
"This means that in the hinterlands, the percentage of stunted children is lesser if you look at stunting among toddlers as a whole compared to the mainland," he pointed out.
During the discussion on stunting in Pulau Belakangpadang, some challenges were highlighted, including the limitations of tools to measure the length of babies and the difficulties in medical examinations for pregnant women on the islands.
The deputy mayor attributed the rate of stunted children on the buffer island to the limited health services for pregnant women rather than the lack of nutrition for children.
Limited inter-island transportation, coupled with the lack of education for pregnant women, compromised obstetrical examinations for them.
"Hence, we are thinking about the transportation costs," he affirmed.
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Translator: Yuniati J N, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Suharto
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