"Pregnant women should increase their intake of animal protein because giving high protein since pregnancy is an effort to prevent stunting," the ministry's Expert Staff for Sustainable Development, Agus Suprapto, said when contacted on Thursday.
Suprapto called for continually improving the dissemination of information on the importance of animal protein intake for pregnant women.
"The aim is to improve understanding and awareness regarding the importance of increasing the proportion of protein in the first 1,000 days of (a child's) life, including during the pregnancy period," he stated.
Suprapto also said that the role of family members is crucial to ensure pregnant women consume a balanced diet.
"Pregnant women need to be reminded and supported by family members and the surrounding environment to increase the intake of balanced nutrition that is rich in animal protein," he remarked.
He also reminded pregnant women to conduct routine health checks to keep track of the development of their pregnancy and the condition of the fetus.
Apart from preventing stunting, routine health checks are also necessary in order to avoid anemia in pregnant women, he added.
"With regular health checks and laboratory tests, the potential of anemia can be identified, prevented, and handled early," he remarked.
The expert staff earlier stated that specific and sensitive nutritional interventions are one of the main keys to preventing stunting.
Suprapto explained that specific nutritional interventions are efforts to handle the direct causes of stunting, while sensitive nutritional interventions are steps taken to handle the indirect causes of stunting.
In 2022, Indonesia's stunting prevalence shrunk by 2.8 percentage points to 21.6 percent, from 24.4 percent in 2021, based on the Indonesian Nutritional Status Survey (SSGI).
The government is aiming to reduce the stunting prevalence to 17.8 percent in 2023 and 14 percent in 2024.
Related news: Stunting prevalent among children aged 6-24 months: Minister
Related news: Mothers' health key to realizing smart, stunting-free generation: BRIN
Translator: Wuryanti Puspitasari, Raka Adji
Editor: Anton Santoso
Copyright © ANTARA 2023
