Jakarta (ANTARA) - Government launched the Integrated National Monthly Weighing Movement to accelerate efforts to reduce prevalence of stunting, which is delayed growth in under-five children due to long-term malnutrition, exposure to repeated infections, and lack of stimulation.
At the launch of the Integrated National Monthly Weighing Movement in Jakarta, Tuesday, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy, stated that the movement aimed to encourage the achievement of the stunting reduction target.
Based on results of the Indonesian Nutrition Status Survey (SSGI), the prevalence of stunting in Indonesia in 2022 dropped to 21.6 percent, from 24.4 percent in 2021.
"The government is targeting to reduce stunting to 14 percent in 2024," the minister stated.
He remarked that the Integrated National Monthly Weighing Movement is part of early stunting detection efforts in toddlers.
Through this movement, the government encourages parents to routinely bring their children to integrated health posts (posyandu) or community health centers (puskesmas) for measurement of the head circumference, weight, and height of their children, Effendy stated.
"Apart from being weighed and measured, there will be a provision for immunizations, supplementary feeding, vitamin A for toddlers, as well as health counseling by health cadres," he remarked.
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The minister also stated that implementation of the Integrated National Monthly Weighing Movement involves 300,188 posyandu across Indonesia.
The movement targets around 14 million children under the age of five, who are recorded in the Electronic Community-Based Nutrition Recording Reporting (E-PPGBM).
Apart from striving for standardized anthropometric measurements of toddlers through the National Monthly Weighing Movement, the government is optimizing intervention programs to meet the nutritional needs of mothers and toddlers to accelerate the reduction in stunting cases by consuming animal protein.
The ministry had advised all regional heads to ensure that toddlers and pregnant mothers in their areas consume sufficient nutritious foods that are rich in animal protein, such as eggs, fish, and chicken meat.
President Joko Widodo also noted that the biscuits provided by posyandu as supplementary food for toddlers were not sufficient to prevent stunting. He urged posyandu to switch from biscuits to local products, with high content of animal protein, for toddlers.
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