Over a thousand HST's toddlers suffer malnutrition

Barabai, South Kalimantan (ANTARA) - More than a thousand children under five in the District of Central Hulu Sungai (HST), South Kalimantan, are malnourished that caused them to be stunted.

The South Kalimantan Health Agency's data in 2022 showed stunting rate in HST is at 10.6 percent.

Of about 15.506 toddlers in the district, 1,269 are classified as stunted dan 380 are very stunted.

Based on data from the Indonesian Nutrition Status Study (SSGI), the South Kalimantan's stunting rate in 2021 was above the national average and ranked 6th highest in Indonesia with 30 points. Whereas HST ranks 9th out of 13 districts and cities in South Kalimantan.

Stunting itself is the failure of growth and development that children experience due to poor nutrition for a long time, repeated infection, and inadequate psychosocial stimulation. Especially in their first thousand days of life 

Addressing the condition, the HST government made several efforts to reduce stunting cases.

The government held a stunting consultation and coordination meeting with a number of parties, including the District Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda) on Tuesday (7/6) at the Murakata Building, Barabai.

"This is our shared commitment to reduce and prevent stunting in HST," said Regent H Aulia Oktafiandi.

He hopes this synergy will help to overcome the problem of stunting as well as reducing maternal and infant mortality.

The parties then signed a joint commitment to the acceleration of stunting prevention. Then the book of eight Convergence Actions of Acceleration of Stunting Prevention (KP2S) was handed over to the Regent from the KP2S team.

Related news: 52,000 families in Tanah Laut at risk of giving birth to stunting babies
Related news: Adaro Group focuses on handling stunting in 28 villages