"Stunting prevention begins from the pregnancy period," deputy for the coordination of health quality improvement and population development at the ministry Agus Suprapto told ANTARA here on Friday.
"A healthy mother will also give birth to a healthy baby and prevent the occurrence of stunting," he said.
Therefore, the ministry has continued to strengthen its campaign to increase the awareness of pregnant women on the importance of taking pregnancy examinations so that their infants can grow healthily.
The campaign is being conducted to improve women’s compliance with undergoing pregnancy and blood pressure examinations, taking blood supplement tablets, and consuming a balanced diet, he added.
This is expected to support the stunting prevalence reduction program, which is aiming to reduce stunting prevalence by three percent per year, he said.
The current stunting prevalence is 24.4 percent or 5.33 million infants, and the government is aiming to reduce the figure to 14 percent by 2024, he informed.
This information is based on data from the 2021 Indonesian Infant Nutrition Status Survey (SSGBI).
"Thus, stunting reduction program should be a collective consideration to realize quality nation successors considering that the first thousand days of life are the golden period for a child," he stated.
Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy, noted that providing balanced nutrition to pregnant women and infants is very important for preventing stunting.
The minister said that the government has continued to carry out comprehensive interventions to prevent stunting.
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Translator: Wuryanti P, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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