These teams are tasked with providing assistance to teenagers or prospective brides, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and children up to 59 monthsBanyuasin, South Sumatra (ANTARA) - The National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) dispatched 557 Family Assistance Teams (TPK) in Banyuasin District, South Sumatra, to prevent stunting in children.
"These teams are tasked with providing assistance to teenagers or prospective brides, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and children up to 59 months, so that they have ample comprehension in preventing stunting," Head of the National Population and Family Planning Agency, Hasto Wardoyo, stated in Tabuan Asri Village, Pulau Rimau Sub-district, Banyuasin District, on Monday.
Wardoyo remarked that the 557 teams comprised 1,671 personnel, with each team having midwives, family empowerment and welfare (PKK) cadres, and family planning cadres. The selection was aimed at lowering the stunting rate in the area in accordance with President Joko Widodo's directives to aim for 14 percent by 2024.
Banyuasin District recorded a stunting rate of 22 percent in children. It was actually below the national stunting rate capped at 24.4 percent. However, this translated to the fact that 22 children in the district were confirmed to still have stunted growth.
The agency dispatched the teams to assist in the progress, as stunting negatively impacted the quality of the future generations.
Among the effects were the inability to grow to an optimal height, low intellectual abilities, and being prone to contracting diseases when they reach an old age.
Wardoyo highlighted that stunting caused children to be susceptible to central obesity in future and increased their susceptibility to diseases, such as high blood pressure, stroke, or diabetes.
Predisposition to these three conditions was due to the fact that the children did not receive adequate nutrition coupled with the lack of immunizations and poor parenting patterns during the first thousand days of life.
A poor parenting pattern resulted in unhappy children, which lead to little to no appetite, and so the stunted condition, he elaborated.
He urged prospective newlyweds to follow the regulations set by the Religious Affairs Ministry regarding health checks three months prior to marriage.
The measure aims to gauge the health condition of brides and grooms, and if found to be less than ideal, then the team would help them. For instance, the mother must have an arm circumference of 23 centimeters and hemoglobin (Hb) level of 11.5.
Wardoyo emphasized that this examination made it possible to know the readiness of the prospective mother to be able to conceive even before getting married.
"Mr. Religious Affairs Minister has declared that all (spouses-to-be) must undergo check-up before getting married. If the results are not healthy, they are still getting married but are assisted by the teams for three months. Hence, do not just think about pre-wedding, pre-conception is important," he concluded.
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Translator: Hreeloita D S, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Sri Haryati
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