Jakarta (ANTARA) - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin stated that a mother's love and affection can determine the quality of the nation's future generation.

Amin made this statement on his official Instagram account, as quoted here on Friday, in commemoration of National Mother's Day that falls on December 22 every year.

"Which is a generation that is healthy, smart, stunting-free, and still upholds religious values and noble morals," VP Amin remarked.

On various occasions, the vice president always reminded the public that stunting is a major issue that needs to be solved together.

According to Amin, mothers or women play a considerable role in overcoming stunting problems, starting from prevention efforts at marriage, pregnancy stages, and after the baby is born.

He said mothers also need to monitor the infant's health in its first one thousand days of life.

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Amin drew attention to the harm caused by stunting on children that could damage Indonesia's prospects of leaping forward to become an advanced country by maximizing the demographic bonus.

He explained that stunting not only has an impact on children's physical condition but also on their health and cognitive development.

"Stunted children will later grow into adults with low productivity, which in turn will hinder economic growth and further cause inequality and poverty," he remarked.

In other words, members of the next generation that are stunted will certainly cause a stunted nation as well, the VP had stated earlier during his visit to Jember, East Java.

Hence, he said, the government continues to reduce stunting in children, and it targets to reduce the national stunting rate to 14 percent by 2024.

The government's efforts have succeeded in reducing stunting prevalence, from 30.8 percent in 2018 to 21.6 percent in 2022.

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Translator: Yashinta P, Kenzu
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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