Stunting is still a big problem for Indonesia. Stunting cases were still at 24% in 2022. Therefore, President Joko Widodo reminded all regional heads to military/police officials at the regional level to pay close attention to the stunting problem.
The warning was conveyed by Jokowi while attending the National Coordination Meeting of Regional Heads and the Indonesia-wide Regional Leadership Communication Forum in Sentul City, Bogor Regency, West Java Province, Tuesday (17/1/2023).
According to the head of state, Indonesia is currently in a demographic bonus phase. The peak will occur in 2030-2035.
“If our human resources are not in a good position, so they have good productivity, be careful. It’s not a profit that we get, but it will put a big burden on the country so stunting must be the target for completing human resource development,” said Jokowi.
Furthermore, according to the head of state, 23% of stunting is a problem for the unborn baby or is still in the womb.
“That’s a very large 23% contribution, so I need to remind regional heads that the BKKBN service will continue to remind them of the importance of checking the nutrition of pregnant women for anemia or not. Check it properly because the key is there,” said Jokowi.
Jokowi explained, after birth until the baby is 23 months old, solving the problem of stunting sufferers is more difficult to do. For this reason, the former mayor of Solo reminded the importance of intervention.
For this reason, Jokowi reminded the Community Health Center (Puskesmas) and Integrated Service Post (Posyandu) to be active in helping expectant mothers and mothers with toddlers. According to the head of state, they must be reminded about anemia, breastfeeding for 6 months, and most importantly monitoring in the field because every mother must be intervened differently.
Furthermore, Jokowi emphasized the importance of using technology to suppress stunting. The former governor of DKI Jakarta then appreciated Sumedang Regency for using technology to monitor stunting.
“Later I will tell you what the platform is, what the application is like, the others just have to copy it,” Jokowi said.
Meanwhile, Kampar Regency uses a childcare model with large companies. The implication is that the level of stunting can also be reduced.
