Elly Burhaini Faizal, Jakarta – Six-year-old Selvia Rahmawati appeared undaunted walking between cars and motorcycles at an intersection in Karet Bivak, Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta.
She only had one objective – to knock on doors of cars and ask for small change from the vehicles' occupants. "Just to buy snacks," said Selvia, when asked about what she would do with the money.
With the Rp 15,000 (US$1.64) she earns every day, Selvia only spends a little to buy instant noodles, as she also has to support Uyi, her 45-year-old aunt.
"I don't know whether she is malnourished. I have no money to bring her to a hospital," Uyi told The Jakarta Post, adding that most of Selvia's daily diet consists of nothing other than instant noodles.
Selvia, with her stick figure body, is probably one among millions of children in the country who lack proper nutrition, often resulting in stunting.
Data from the Basic Health Research program (Riskesdas) conducted by the Health Ministry in 2010 shows that in spite of impressive economic growth, the percentage of children in the country experiencing stunted growth reached a staggering 35.6 percent of children below the age of 5, a total of 26.7 million children.
Growth stunting is a primary manifestation of malnutrition in early childhood, including malnutrition during fetal development brought on by the mother's own malnourishment. Growth stunting could be identified by comparing measurements of children's heights to the growth reference population.
Growth stunting occurs due to a dietary deficiency of micro nutrients, and in the long run it can affect both cognitive development and productivity.
East Nusa Tenggara has the highest rate of children with stunted growth – 58.4 percent of children below age 5.
West Papua comes second with 49.2 percent, and West Nusa Tenggara is third with 48.2 percent. North Sumatra trails in fourth position with 42.3 percent, and South Sulawesi in fifth with 40.4 percent.
The number of children with stunted growth is alarmingly high, especially compared to the government claim of reduced poverty rates in recent years.
According to the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), Indonesia's poverty rate dropped by 5.26 percent over the 2006-2011 period. As of September 2011, the number of poor people reached 29.89 million people, or 12.36 percent of the total population. Bappenas expects that poverty rates will decline in the next five years to 10.5-11.5 percent by 2012 and between 8 and 10 percent by 2014.
Razak Thaha, a professor of nutrition from the Makassar-based University of Hasanuddin said on Wednesday that Indonesia ranked fifth in the world for the number of children with stunted growth. "Instead of malnourishment, we are now facing the problem of children with stunted growth as their main health problem," he said.
Razak said that stunted growth in children showed chronic malnourishment affected children in their development ages. The 2010 Riskesdas data, however, also showed that the country is dealing with a double-whammy of growth stunting and obesity in children.
"We are facing a double burden – stunted growth and childhood obesity. Malnourished children will suffer from stunted growth, but consuming an unhealthy diet will cause obesity in children," he said.
Despite claims of success by the Health Ministry in handling malnutrition, the problem remains high among children under 5 years old, reaching 17.9 percent as of 2010. About 14.2 percent of the country's children under 5 years old suffer from obesity.
Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih said in a statement that improving the nutrition of children under 5 years old would be the focus of the ministry's agenda in 2012.
"We will increase the number of Nutrition Improvement Centers [PPG] to 153 units, up from 95 units in 2011," she said, adding that the government would distribute more micronutrient sprinkles called Taburia.
In 2011, the ministry distributed 38 million sachets of Taburia, exceeding the 5.5 million sachets it distributed in 2010.