"This foster father movement to overcome stunting must be carried out massively throughout Indonesia," BKKBN's Deputy for Advocacy, Mobilization, and Information, Sukaryo Teguh Santoso, noted in a press statement received here, Tuesday.
Santoso stated that the foster father movement has helped to provide food commodities in the form of animal protein, such as eggs, meat, and fish, to help meet the nutritional needs of stunting children.
"Assistance can be in the form of money amounting to Rp15 thousand per day that will be managed by the Family Assistance Team (TPK)," he remarked.
Moreover, his side has prepared 200 thousand TPK and 600 thousand people comprising midwives, Family Welfare Development (PKK) cadres, and BKKBN cadres throughout Indonesia to ensure the success of the stunting eradication program.
He also said that in the Central BKKBN office, a total of 431 employees had become foster fathers for 423 stunted children.
In addition, ministry officials, government agencies, the private sector, and individuals support the movement by becoming foster fathers or foster siblings, he remarked.
Santoso noted that children from families experiencing extreme poverty are more at risk of stunting, a condition of failure to thrive due to chronic malnutrition, recurrent infections, and lack of stimulation.
"Extremely poor families are included in the families at risk for stunting category. The number is around 6.8 million families. Meanwhile, the number of poor and vulnerable families is 29.7 million in Indonesia," he stated.
Meanwhile, he noted that the number of families at risk of stunting is 13,511,649 out of a total of 71,334,664 families in Indonesia based on the results of the 2022 Indonesian family data update.
He said that providing assistance to families at risk of stunting through the foster father movement also includes helping families in extreme poverty.
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Translator: Lintang Budiyanti P, Resinta S
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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