Kudus Targets Healthy Family Festival To Help Lower Stuntins

KUDUS - The government of Kudus Regency, Central Java, is targeting the 2025 Healthy Family Festival to help reduce the stunting rate in Kudus to 3.55 percent from the previous 4.03 percent.

"Moreover, the Healthy Family Festival opened the first time, thus supporting the government's efforts to fight stunting in Kudus Regency. In fact, it continues to decline significantly because currently 2,145 cases or 4.03 percent from the previous year 4.3 percent," said Kudus Regent Sam'ani Intakiris at the opening of the "Milklife Festival for the Healthy Family 2025" in Kudus Square, Saturday.

According to him, stunting is not only a matter of the health of mothers and children, but also the responsibility of RT/RW, Babinsa, Bhabinkamtibmas, and village midwives as spearheads.

"Thank you Djarum Foundation for continuing to accompany local governments," he said.

The Regent targets that next year the stunting rate can be reduced to 3.55 percent. If the target is achieved, Kudus Regency has the opportunity to receive fiscal incentives from the central government. Currently, Kudus gets a fiscal incentive of Rp. 6 billion because it has succeeded in reducing the stunting rate.

"I hope that Djarum's corporate social responsibility (CSR) will continue to be prioritized for Kudus first until it is complete, then help other districts. Festivals like this are extraordinary because they provide direct education to the public about a healthy lifestyle," he said.

The 2025 Healthy Family Festival presents various educational booths, free health checks, environmental sanitation simulations, healthy family gymnastics, to posyandu competitions.

The Djarum Foundation's Director of Social Bhakti, Achmad Budiharto, emphasized the commitment of companies born, large, and developing in Kudus to participate in creating a stunting-free golden generation in 2045.

"Kudus is our home. If Kudus is prosperous and prosperous, Djarum is also prosperous. From the start we didn't want our employees, the majority of whom were women, to contribute stunting rates. Our target was zero stunting," he said.

He admitted that stunting management trips were not easy, because initially the program only focused on fulfilling the nutrition of pregnant women and toddlers, but it was not enough.

"We learn that stunting is not only a matter of nutrition, but also behavior, sanitation, the environment, and readiness of brides and grooms. Therefore, this festival is an educational event as well as a simulation of how to maintain environmental cleanliness, the importance of exclusive breast milk, pregnancy examination, and invite families to actively move rather than just playing gadgets," he said.

Achmad Budiharto also invited other big companies in Kudus such as Pura, PT Sukun, Sinar Indah Paper (SIK), and others to work together to help their respective environments so that other stunting and health problems in Kudus are immediately resolved.

The Kudus 2025 Healthy Family Festival was attended by thousands of enthusiastic residents participating in a series of events that took place in the Simpang Tujuh Kudus Square.

With the increasingly solid cross-sectoral collaboration, Kudus is increasingly optimistic about realizing a healthy family and Indonesia's golden generation by 2045.