“We are continuously making efforts to reduce the stunting rate, one of which is through the formation of the Stunting Reduction Acceleration Team,” Jambi Governor Al Haris informed here on Wednesday.
One of the objectives behind the formation of the team is to encourage all parties to cooperate in efforts to accelerate the reduction in the stunting rate.
The team has been tasked with working quickly to obtain data on all stunted children so that they can be handled and their needs can be met.
The provincial government of Jambi is currently preparing a strategy to reduce the province’s stunting rate, under which the team will be tasked with educating parents on parenting and healthy eating habits so that stunting can be prevented in each family, Haris informed.
“We have also readied logistics to meet the needs of stunted children and health personnel to check the health of parents and stunted children,” he said.
According to data, currently, 9,616 residents in Jambi province are affected by stunting.
Stunting is not only a local issue, but also a national concern, with the government prioritizing efforts to resolve it, he said.
One of the causes of stunting is that community health centers (puskesmas) are located way too far for some people, he noted.
Stunting is one of the issues that the Joko Widodo-Ma'ruf Amin administration has made a priority.
In fact, Vice President Amin is targeting a 3-percent reduction in stunting prevalence in 2022.
In 2021, based on data from the Indonesian Under-Five Children Nutrition Status Survey (SSGBI), the prevalence of stunting stood at 24.4 percent, or 5.33 million.
The Indonesian government is targeting to reduce the stunting prevalence to 14 percent by 2024.
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Translator: Nanang Mairiadi, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
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