Theresia Sufa, Bogor, West Java – The Bogor administration in West Java reported a total of 2,001 children are at risk of stunted growth in the municipality, which shares borders with Jakarta.
Municipal administration secretary Syarifah Sofiah said the administration would help provide assistance to 1,001 children by involving local communities and entrepreneurs.
Bogor civil servants and employees of regionally owned enterprises will donate one and a half kilograms of eggs each month to each of the remaining 1,000 children in 68 subdistricts."The donation will last for six months; each month, the children will be weighed and their health development will be evaluated," Syarifah told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
The administration reported there were around 100,000 children under five in the municipality.
Bogor deputy mayor Dedie A. Rachim on Tuesday said in addition to carrying out several programs to overcome stunting problems, the municipal administration government also provided assistance through foster parents programs and ready-to-eat food donations.
Dedie is also calling all local communities and entrepreneurs, especially those engaged in the culinary businesses, to contribute.
"Those in the business communities can provide assistance, including in the form of food donations such as vegetables, fruit and meat," said Dedie.
The 2022 Indonesian Nutrition Status Survey (SSGI) issued in January reported the stunting rate had fallen from 24.4 percent in 2021 to 21.6 percent in 2022 throughout the country. The SSGI reported the stunting rate was recorded at 30.8 percent in 2018 in the country's 23 million children aged under five.
The Health Ministry reported the biggest decline, by more than three percentage points, occurred in West Java and East Java. However, the two provinces still have the largest number of cases of childhood stunting along with Central Java, North Sumatra and Banten.
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has called on Indonesians to work hard and work together with the government to lower the stunting prevalence rate to 14 percent by 2024. (dre/gev)
Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2023/05/05/2001-children-at-risk-of-stunting-in-bogor.htm