Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Tens of thousands of malnourished children in East Nusa Tenggara will be at risk of marasmus if attention is not given to the matter by the government and related institutions, a health official said Friday.

Marasmus, a severe form of malnutrition, involved the chronic wasting of fat, muscle and other tissues.

Head of East Nusa Tenggara Health Office, Stef Bria Seran, said that 29,480 children under the age of five suffered from serious malnutrition across the province.

The children, he said, were at risk of marasmus if the government and related institutions continued to pay no attention to their plight.

Currently, he said, 120 children under the age of five suffered from marasmus. Eighty-six of these lived in West Sumba, 15 in Kupang, 10 in East Flores, six in Timor Tengah Selatan and three in Belu.

"We're worried that thousands of malnourished children might suffer from marasmus as well. This situation has shown that food (shortage) is a serious matter within each family," Stef told journalists Friday.

He said malnourished children would become increasingly susceptible to diseases if food shortages remained in family households.

"Reports that we received showed that in 16 cities and regencies, 154,126 children were threatened by malnutrition. Since January this year two children have died due to marasmus," Stef said.

The administration has attempted to lower the number of malnourished children in the province by revitalizing 8,798 integrated health posts throughout villages.

The posts, which offered health services to mothers and children, were common in the 1990s, but suffered a decline following reforms, which shifted attention to economic and political issues.

In the East Nusa Tenggara regency of Timor Tengah Utara, up to 80,582 children under the age of five were believed to be malnourished.

Non-governmental organization activist Sarah Lery Mboeik urged the provincial administration and legislative members to allocate "pro-people" funds in the hope of lowering the number of malnourished children there. "The administration, as the one responsible for managing the budget, always blames nature of causing food crises. On the other hand, it allocated little funds to ensure food security and better healthcare," said Sarah, who is the director of the East Nusa Tenggara People's Advocacy and Development Center.

She said funds allocated to deal with healthcare problems in several subdistricts would not be substantial enough to deal with the malnutrition experienced by thousands of children under the age of five.

She said the group had received a report that in the Naioni subdistrict of Maulafa the administration had allocated a healthcare budget of Rp 9 million for 9,000 residents.

"It means each resident is entitled to only Rp 1,000 for healthcare. This budget management showed the administration was not sensitive in managing the budget to improve people's welfare," she said.

Student activist Ambrosius feared the number of malnourished children would continue to increase if the government and related institutions did not intervene.

"The malnutrition problem has been going on for years and the number of affected children has continued to increase, making people wonder what the administration has done to promote healthy living and ensure food security for the people," said the student of Kupang-based Artha Wacana Christian University.