Makassar, S Sulawesi (ANTARA) - Acting governor of South Sulawesi Andi Sudirman Sulaiman has said that his administration will focus on reducing the stunting rate in the region through the 'Stop Stunting Action' program in 2022.
Ten villages from each district and city with a high stunting rate will be chosen as the locus for the program, Sulaiman announced in Makassar on Monday.
South Sulawesi has 24 districts and cities, thus 240 villages will be the locus of stunting reduction in the province, he informed.
The program will involve nutrition assistants staying in the villages for eight months to assist families, he said.
"These nutritional assistants will provide nutritional assistance to families in the first thousand days of (a child's) life and provide nutritional intervention packages for children and pregnant women for stunting locus villages in 24 districts/cities," he elaborated.
"The assistants will also educate (people in terms of) changing pregnancy care behavior to prevent giving birth to children born stunted," Sulaiman said.
The nutritional assistants will also be tasked with educating young women, pregnant women, and mothers with toddlers, about behavioral change, he added.
"In this stop stunting action, we also involve the PKK (family welfare movement) driving team, especially considering that the PKK has a network down to the village level, which includes family development," he explained.
He said suppression of the stunting rate is expected to lead to the birth of a great, new generation.
Meanwhile, head of the public health division at the South Sulawesi Health Office Husni Thamrin said that the stunting rate in South Sulawesi has begun to experience a significant decline, as per the central government's expectations.
The stunting rate in South Sulawesi was recorded at 35.6 percent in 2018. The following year, the stunting rate declined to 30.5 percent, he noted.
"On the other hand, from the PPGBM Electronic Community Based Nutrition Recording & Reporting data, the stunting rate in 2020 was 12.3 percent in February and 11 percent in August. In February 2021, the stunting rate decreased to 9.6 percent, and in August, it fell to 9.08 percent," he said.
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