"Prospective newlyweds are the first cluster who can reduce the stunting rate," director of population planning and control at the agency, Munawar Asikin, said during a webinar that was accessed from here on Wednesday.
The webinar discussed nutrition and food management for ensuring the health of pregnant women and raising a healthy, smart generation free of stunting.
The agency has collaborated extensively with the Religious Affairs Ministry, through the Religious Affairs Offices, both at the central and provincial levels.
"We have committed to (guiding) prospective brides for approximately three months so that they can truly become healthy mothers-to-be," he said.
Currently, the Electronic Ready for Marriage and Ready to Get Pregnant (ELSIMIL) application can help gauge the health of prospective brides and grooms, thus, it is expected that the stunting reduction program will run well.
Asikin said that through the application, intervention can be carried out immediately, before the occurrence of marriage and pregnancy.
"If a woman's upper arm circumference is less than 23.5 cm, she is categorized as thin and has chronic energy deficiency," he explained.
Chronic energy deficiency refers to a lack of energy, which negatively impacts maternal health and fetal growth or development, he said.
The ELSIMIL application also measures the body mass index and monitors anemia in prospective brides.
As part of efforts to pursue stunting reduction, he said his administration is also providing assistance to pregnant women so that they are ready for delivery.
The assistance includes providing blood-adding tablets as well as offering education and knowledge to pregnant women, he said.
"Providing education to pregnant women is very important because there are many cases of children born in stunted condition because the pregnant mother maintains (a strict) diet to stay beautiful. In fact, at that time (of pregnancy), she needs high nutritional intake so that her child is free from chronic energy deficiency," he added.
Asikin said that his office will also focus on ensuring the quality of the first thousand days of an infant’s life.
"More knowledge about nutrition and food management for healthy pregnant women will help the delivery or birth of children who are not stunted," he added.
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Translator: Zubi Mahrofi, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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