“Through the hard work conducted by the NTT provincial government, the number of stunted children has decreased from 77 thousand children in 2018 to 13,629 children in December 2022,” East Nusa Tenggara Governor Viktor Bungtilu Laiskodat said in a written statement received here, Thursday.
This is related to the instruction given by President Joko Widodo that regional governments continue to make efforts to control stunting, he added.
The efforts carried out by the provincial government to deal with stunting have been more focused on ensuring the availability of nutritious food for toddlers who are in the process of growing, Laiskodat elaborated.
He said that when he was appointed as the governor with Vice Governor Josef A. Nae Soi in 2018, the number of stunting case in NTT was recorded at 77 thousand.
However, through several interventions made through economic empowerment programs and the provision of additional food to children, the number of stunted children has continued to decline.
“The decrease in the number of children experiencing stunting is proof of the hard work and cooperation between the provincial and city governments and related parties such as the Indonesian military, National Police, and the community who continue to make various efforts to deal with childhood stunting,” the governor said.
He called on people to plant moringa, which contains essential nutrients for pregnant women and children to prevent stunting.
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Translator: Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Sri Haryati
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