President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) in Sentani, Papua, on Tuesday, expressed optimism about continued improvement in efforts to prevent stunting among children.
On the occasion, the President and First Lady Iriana, along with some ministers, including Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin, visited a local integrated health post (posyandu) to check the stunting prevention efforts carried out there.
The head of state highlighted that efforts to tackle stunting in the country began a decade back, and now, it has yielded some results.
“Initially, the prevalence of stunting was at 37 percent, and now, it has dropped drastically to 21 percent,” he remarked.
However, Jokowi pointed out that efforts to reduce the prevalence of stunting from 21 percent to the national target of 14 percent are rather slow, so the cooperation of all parties, including the people, is needed.
“The target in reducing the stunting rate from 21 percent to 14 percent is not as fast as before because stunting is not only related to food (availability) but more about the nutrition,” he remarked.
He explained that stunting is closely related to the provision of nutritious food, the existence of sanitation facilities, a proper living environment, and clean water.
“To prevent stunting, the cooperation of all parties, including (members of) the community, who need to apply clean lifestyle, is deemed necessary,” he stated.
He stressed that living a healthy lifestyle, such as consuming nutritious food, having clean sanitation facilities and living environment, and access to clean water, can prevent stunting as early as possible.
“We know that the (stunting rate) decline, which was previously significant, is now slower, but we are striving to reach even below 14 percent,” he stated.
Meanwhile, First Lady Iriana called on parents to increase the intake of nutritious food in their children to prevent stunting.