Equity Of Sacrificial Meat, Efforts To Increase Consumption Of Animal Protein And Prevent Stunting

The spread of sacrificial meat must be evenly distributed so that it can be empowered and useful to prevent stunting. (IST)

JAKARTA The tightening of sacrificial meat is correlated with the reduction in stunting, this was conveyed by Esti Nurwanti as an Nutritionist during her presentation on the hot talk agenda of Sacrificial Animals (THK) Dompet Dhuafa on Thursday, May 15, 2025, located at the Antara Building, Pasar Baru, Jakarta.

Esti said, the importance of meat intake for children's growth and development is especially for pregnant women to prevent stunting. "Some of the risk factors for stunting include non-satisfied animal protein, lack of environmental sanitation and so on".

Esti continued, "So the meat given to pregnant women can reduce the risk of giving birth to stunting babies if it's from a Nutritionist like that, because it's as important and fresh as possible".

'Daging is an iron source in addition to vegetables, there are 3 mg/100 grams. And animal protein is the largest source of essential amino acids and other important sources of macronutrients (energy, high-quality proteins and fatty acids) and mirkonutrients such as iron, zinc, iodine, magnesium, calcium, vitamin B, vitamin A and vitamin D which regulates the process of being involved in growth and development," said Esti.

"But keep in mind the importance of the diversity of diets must also be done because the source of nutrients in animals is not the same as others", continued Esti.

Esti also expressed a comparison of stunting with malnutrition, namely if stunting, malnutrition in the long term and measured from the comparison of height and age. Meanwhile, malnutrition is short-term and measured from weight. Currently, the problem of stunting in Indonesia, stunting prevalence is still high. The prevalence of stunting in Indonesia decreased from 24.4% in 2021 to 21.6% in 2022. The target for stunting in Indonesia decreased by 14% in 2024.

This occurs as a result of a lack of knowledge of balanced nutrition, lack of access to reliable nutritional information, lack of awareness of long-term impacts and cultural and traditional influences.

According to Esti, stunting prevention is much more effective than stunting treatment, from the August 2022 e-PPGBM data with the provision of additional foods rich in animal protein for 14 days, there is a standard weight gain in 55% of toddlers.