The number of new stunting cases in children aged 11-23 months in Indonesia has increased. For this reason, interventions for this age group must be strengthened.
By
DEONISIA ARLINTA
·5 minutes read
KOMPAS/EMANUEL EDI SAPUTRA
The Team for Empowerment of Family Welfare, Pontianak City, West Kalimantan, together with other stakeholders, went to homes to provide food assistance and educate the public, Monday (9/1/2023). The effort was made to strengthen the handling of tengkes in the regions.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The prevalence of stunting in children under five years in Indonesia decreased in 2022. However, the number of new stunting cases in the 12-23 month age group has increased. For this reason, interventions must be strengthened, especially from pregnancy up until children reach two years of age.
Based on data from the Health Ministry, there were 565,479 stunted children in the 0-11 month age group in 2021. Thus, the expected number of stunted children in 2022 for the 12-23 month age group was to remain the same. However, in 2022, it was reported that the figure in that age group had increased to 978,930 stunted children.
“So, at the ages of 12-23 months, there were actually many new cases of stunted children,” said the Health Ministry’s public health director general Maria Endang Sumiwi, in a press conference explaining the results of the 2022 Indonesian Nutrition Status Study (SSGI) in Jakarta on Friday (27/1/2023).
“This increase in stunted children was found in the age group under two years. We must watch out for that age group and pay them more attention,” said Endang. Stunting is a condition of impaired growth due to malnutrition.
According to her, interventions to reduce the prevalence of stunting need to be focused on those under two years of age. This means focusing on prospective mothers, expectant mothers, breastfeeding mothers and babies who are breastfeeding exclusively, as well as those who are complementary feeding. This early phase, namely the first 1,000 days of life, is a crucial period to prevent the emergence of new stunting cases.
The 2022 SSGI report showed that the prevalence of stunting in Indonesia is at 21.6 percent, down 2.8 percent from the previous year. In 2021, the figure stood at 24.4 percent.
The survey also collected other nutritional data among children under five years old, such as the prevalence of wasting, as well as of being underweight and overweight. This survey is conducted annually.
The government is aiming to reduce the prevalence of stunting by 3 percent each year to reach the target of 14 percent in 2024. “My target is to attain 14 percent by 2024. It is not a difficult matter, as long as we can consolidate this,” said President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo during his opening remarks at the national working meeting of the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) in Jakarta on Wednesday (25/1) (Kompas, 26/1/2023).
Health Development Policy Agency (BKPK) head Syarifah Liza Munira said the results of the 2022 SSGI also showed that 18.5 percent of newborns are stunted. Additionally, cases of stunting in those aged 12-23 months increased up to 1.6 times compared with those aged 6-11 months.
“As a result, these two age groups are strategic times to implement interventions aimed at reducing stunting rates. First is when a baby is born, so it is important to intervene during pregnancy or earlier. Second is when the child is at the complementary feeding stage,” she said.
Exclusive breastfeeding
There are several ways to prevent stunting, Syarifah added. This includes early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding until the baby is six months old, providing animal protein sources as complementary foods for children aged 6-23 months, giving milk and its derivatives and providing nutritional counseling.
Many of these methods have become more prevalent recently. For one, the provision of animal protein sources has increased from 35.3 percent in 2021 to 69.9 percent in 2022. Breastfeeding has also increased from 73.5 percent to 96.4 percent in 2022.
However, the proportion of exclusive breastfeeding for up to six months has significantly dropped from 48.2 percent in 2021 to 16.7 percent in 2022, despite the fact that exclusive breastfeeding is important for children’s growth and development.
Nutrition in children aged 0-6 months can be fulfilled by breastfeeding alone. If they are not exclusively breastfed, children cannot optimally obtain the various nutrients they need.
Endang said that efforts to encourage exclusive breastfeeding need to be amplified. Work from office policies during the Covid-19 pandemic has been deemed as one of the contributing factors to the declining rate of exclusive breastfeeding within the community.
Additionally, nutrition for breastfeeding mothers must also be taken into consideration. Each serving of a breastfeeding mother’s meal must be rich in animal protein.
Through the Isi Piringku program, everyday meals for breastfeeding mothers must consist of six servings of staple food, four servings of vegetables, four servings of fruit, four servings of animal protein and four servings of vegetable protein.
The important thing is to make sure these efforts are properly implemented.
They must also consume at least 14 glasses of water per day to prevent dehydration. Consumption of sugar, salt and fats also needs to be limited.
Separately, Kencana Sari, a researcher from the National Research and Innovation Agency’s (BRIN) public health research and development center, explained that nutritional sufficiency needs to be ensured from when the fetus is in the womb, even from prospective mothers in their teens. Healthy mothers will give birth to healthy children. For this reason, it is necessary to focus on interventions aimed at improving the quality of nutrition during the first 1,000 days of life.
“There are many government policies in place already. The important thing is to make sure these efforts are properly implemented. Collaborating with various designated sectors will certainly help attain optimal results,” said Kencana.
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