Children's Nutrition Problems Such As Waste And Stunting Are Still Serious Challenges In Indonesia

JAKARTA - The problem of malnutrition in Indonesian children, such as wasteing (low weight according to height) and stunting (not age-appropriate height), is still a major challenge in national health development.

These two conditions not only threaten the growth and development of children, but also have a long impact on the quality of future generations.

Director of Health and Community Nutrition of the Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas, Diah Lenggogeni, emphasized that waste and stunting are closely related. According to him, children who are wasteful are at higher risk of stunting in the future.

"Stunting is a consequence of long-lasting malnutrition. The impact is permanent and difficult to recover," he said at the Cross-Sector Coordination Meeting entitled Strengthening the Implementation of the Global Action Plan on Child Wasting through Cross-Sectoral Cooperation, which was held with UNICEF, Thursday in Jakarta.

He explained that wasteing could be an early indicator of nutritional problems. Therefore, early detection and handling of wasteing are crucial steps in preventing stunting.

Through this cross-sectoral forum, the government seeks to strengthen collaboration between stakeholders in order to reduce waste and stunting rates and support the achievement of national targets related to child nutrition.

The meeting is also a momentum to harmonize the implementation of the Operational Roadmap Global Action Plan (GAP) on Child Wasting with national policies, including the 2025-2029 National Medium Term Development Plan (RPJMN) and the Presidential Regulation (Perpres) plan on accelerating stunting handling.

In the discussion panel session, representatives from various sectors including the government, academics, NGOs, the private sector, to international partners shared views on national strategies for handling malnutrition, optimizing the role of Posyandu cadres, integrating data systems, to strengthening social protection for families at risk.

As part of this systematic effort, Bappenas together with UNICEF and five other UN agencies have compiled the GAP on Child Wasting Operational Roadmap, which is a guide for multi-sector intervention in tackling waste problems.

Since its launch in 2021, Indonesia has continued to show its commitment to increasing child nutritional status. This is reflected in the priority programs of the 2020-2024 RPJMN and its sustainability plan in the 2025'2029 period.

Diah hopes that this meeting will produce concrete recommendations to strengthen waste management, including improving data systems, more targeted funding, and increasing cross-sectoral coordination.

"We will make input from various parties an important reference in formulating strategic policies in the field of nutrition and health in the future, in order to support the realization of the 2045 Golden Indonesia Vision," he concluded.