Vice President Ma’ruf Amin has stressed that accelerating efforts to reduce stunting requires strong commitment from all parties, not only at the central level but also the regional level.
Amin made the statement during the National Stunting Forum held on December 14-15, 2021, by the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN).
“In 2021, all heads of districts and cities from 514 regions have signed a joint commitment to accelerate the reduction of stunting. This commitment must be maintained and proved in the regions,” Amin noted in an official statement, Wednesday.
In addition, collaboration from various parties is deemed crucial to ensure convergence between programs to the village and urban village level in an effort to reduce stunting rates.
“This effort cannot only be made by one institution or only by the central government. Stunting reduction efforts require the involvement of all parties, including local governments, academics, media, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and development partners,” Amin affirmed.
Amin is also optimistic that the 2021 National Stunting Forum would be able to build commitment from all stakeholders to produce inputs and recommendations to accelerate the reduction of stunting.
Meanwhile, Head of BKKBN Dr. (H.C) Hasto Wardoyo, Sp.OG (K) said his side is committed to reducing stunting rates by up to 14 percent by 2024.
To support this commitment, the BKKBN has implemented several prevention strategies, one of which is through the formation of a Family Assistance Team (TPK).
“Stunting starts from the family, so we must approach the families. There are three elements in TPK starting from the Health Team or Midwives to the Family Welfare Movement (PKK) Mobilization Team, and Corps in the regions,” Wardoyo stated.
In addition, his side launched the Stunting Care Student (Mahasiswa Penting) Program to assist families to lower the risk of stunting.
“The quality of humans is determined from the first one thousand days of their life, and even if they live in an inappropriate place, they should not experience stunting. The Stunting Care Student Program will be introduced to all universities, and hopefully, would proffer benefits to the community in remote parts of this country,” he emphasized.Stunting occurs when a child fails to grow in the first one thousand days of life due to chronic malnutrition and repeated infections. The effects of stunting can impact physical and brain development among children.
Stunting conditions will affect productivity as an adult and increase the risk of non-infectious diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coronary heart disease, and stroke.
Wardoyo later pointed out that several women failed to recognize their pregnancy or rarely visited the doctor while pregnant. In fact, a critical period of pregnancy is before 56 days, or about eight weeks.
Wardoyo explained that reducing the risk of stunting among toddlers is not only the responsibility of women but also men, who should take on the role by getting habituated to leading a healthy lifestyle 75 days before conception by reducing or stop smoking. A qualified sperm is needed to fertilize the egg formed during that time span.
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