"Preparing for the Golden Generation of 2045 means preparing healthy and quality Indonesians, especially the younger generation, which is our babies and children," she stated during a media meeting here on Friday.
Preparing for the 2045 golden generation will not be easy and will require various measures and efforts, including in the health sector, she added.
She highlighted that Indonesia is still facing challenges in fulfilling children's nutritional needs.
"We are facing nutritional problems that hinder health and quality development. For instance, macronutrient deficiencies such as lack of proteins, and micronutrient deficiencies that involve low intake of vitamins and minerals," Widyawati explained.
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Malnutrition and unhealthy diet among pregnant women and toddlers are also risk factors for diseases that can affect the goal of health development in the future, she added.
"Malnutrition in pregnant women and toddlers results in stunted children, while stunting is still our major nutritional problem. This condition must be resolved immediately because it will hinder the realization of the golden generation by 2045," she stressed.
Widyawati said that stunting can occur due to unfulfilled nutritional needs in children's first thousand days of life.
Stunted children are usually shorter in height compared to toddlers their age.
She said that sometimes, parents may be unaware their children are stunted.
Therefore, she urged parents to pay attention to their children's health needs and meet their nutritional needs.
For this, education about improving nutrition in the community needs to be encouraged.
"Hopefully, we can make our children healthy, and we can eradicate stunting in Indonesia," she said.
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Translator: Suci N, Kenzu
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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