"Dissemination and education on the importance of exclusive breastfeeding to support the growth of children need to be optimized," the ministry's expert staff for sustainable development Agus Suprapto said when contacted on Monday.
He added that the provision of exclusive breastfeeding is really good for supporting children's health resilience.
"The health aspect of children is one of the things that must become a shared concern in order to support the development of human resources in the country," he said.
Suprapto highlighted that breast milk with good nutritional content is the basic foundation for forming a baby's immune system.
"Breast milk has complete nutrition needed in order to provide antibodies that can prevent children from various possibilities of diseases and infections," he said.
Apart from its rich nutritious content, breast milk can also be easily digested by babies and can minimize the risk of allergies.
"The provision of breast milk can become one of the efforts to prevent stunting, and can positively impact children's cognitive abilities and intelligence," he said.
According to the expert staff, the stunting reduction acceleration program is acutely needed to support the development of quality human resources.
"This is part of the sustainable development program, one of which is aimed at creating excellent and competitive generations," he remarked.
He said that the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture will encourage all ministries, agencies, and regional governments to strengthen campaigns on the provision of exclusive breastfeeding to children.
He added that the government is aiming to reduce stunting prevalence to 14 percent in 2024.
Based on the Health Ministry's Indonesian Nutritional Status Survey (SSGI), in 2022, Indonesia’s stunting prevalence shrunk by 2.8 percent to 21.6 percent from 24.4 percent in 2021.
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Translator: Wuryanti Puspitasari, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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