The province is targeting to reduce its stunting rate to 19.25 percent by 2023 and 14 percent by 2024, in accordance with the target given by the central government, he said here on Monday.
He affirmed that the Banten government has carried out several intervention programs to reach the stunting reduction target for 2022.
The programs have included nutritional fulfillment in the first 1,000 days of children's lives, improvement in access to drinking water and adequate sanitation, as well as improvement in nutritional and health services.
In addition, the Banten government has also intensified counseling to improve the community's knowledge of nurturing and meeting the nutritional needs of children.
Head of the Women's Empowerment, Child Protection, and Family Planning Office of Banten, Sitti Ma'ani Nina, said that stunting handling requires active participation from the community.
She emphasized the importance of improving people's knowledge of stunting prevention, including on providing exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and supplementary food to meet children's nutritional needs.
"The supplementary food is not food that has to be bought from a store or mall, but food that is made at home," she added.
Nina noted that, based on the Indonesian Nutritional Status Survey, Banten's stunting prevalence stood at 24.5 percent in 2021.
The survey also showed that Pandeglang district was the region that recorded the highest stunting prevalence in Banten at 37.80 percent.
Meanwhile, Tangerang city was the region with the lowest stunting prevalence at 15.30 percent.
Data from the Indonesian Nutritional Status Survey in 2021 put the prevalence of childhood stunting in Indonesia at 24.4 percent. The Indonesian government is aiming to reduce it to 14 percent by 2024, as per Presidential Decree Number 72 of 2021 concerning stunting reduction acceleration.
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Translator: Mulyana, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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