West Sulawesi Police Chief Calls Early Marriage As The Trigger For High Stunting Cases

JAKARTA Entered in number two as a city with the highest number of stunting cases, the West Sulawesi Police (Sulbar) will coordinate with the Ministry of Religion of West Sulawesi Province to reduce the number of early marriages. This is because the high number of early marriages in West Sulawesi is the cause of the high number of stunting cases.

West Sulawesi (Sulbar) Provincial Police Chief Inspector General R Adang Ginanjar S, his party will support the local government's efforts to reduce the number of early marriages as part of the step of anticipating stunting.

"The West Sulawesi Regional Police will cooperate with the Ministry of Religion of West Sulawesi Province, in suppressing early marriage," said Adang, quoted from Antara, Sunday, August 6.

He said early marriage had to be suppressed because it was one of the causes of stunting in West Sulawesi, which currently reaches 35 percent, or the second highest in Indonesia after East Nusa Tenggara Province.

Meanwhile, the number of early marriages in West Sulawesi reached 11.70 percent, an anticipatory step was needed to prevent this.

"Early marriage is very dangerous for children, because it will give birth at an early age, and children who are born can suffer from stunting," he said.

He conveyed that the West Sulawesi Regional Police also invited all parties to work together to reduce the stunting rate in the area.

"The West Sulawesi Regional Police together with all Forkopimda of West Sulawesi Province will support every government effort to overcome stunting.

The West Sulawesi Police Chief has visited a number of police stations in the district, namely the Mamuju Police, Majene Police, Polres Polman and Mamasa Regency to check the readiness of Polri personnel in assisting efforts to reduce stunting.

"All operational facilities such as official vehicles (randis) are checked to support every effort to handle stunting," he said.

According to the Kapolda, to reduce stunting rates must also be carried out in collaboration with a number of stakeholders by increasing nutrition for children affected by stunting.

"All Polri personnel in West Sulawesi are asked to be serious in dealing with stunting issues, it is hoped that the stunting rate in West Sulawesi can decrease to 14 percent by 2024," he said.