Thousands Of Teenage Girls In Karawang Allegedly Anemia Because Of Seblak, This Is What The Ministry Of Health Said

Illustration of seblak (Unsplash/eprayatuma)

JAKARTA - Anemia cases among young women in Karawang Regency are now in the spotlight, after a recent report from the local Health Office which revealed 8,800 teenage girls there had anemia.

It is suspected that one of the triggers for the disease is the habit of consuming low nutritional snacks, such as morals.

In this case, the Indonesian Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) said that it was not a major factor in this case. The Ministry of Health highlights the role of parents in forming a healthy diet for their children.

"Indeed, this is a matter of behavior, such as habits at home and also an example from parents," said Director General of Primary Health and Community of the Indonesian Ministry of Health, Maria Endang Sumiwi, during a media discussion at the Indonesian Ministry of Health, Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Tuesday, January 21, 2025.

In addition to poor eating patterns in the family, the influence of instant hawker advertisements with commercial interests is also a challenge in forming eating habits among teenagers. The influence of hawker advertisements is quite large which makes teenagers not adopt a healthy diet.

"Including commercial interests that provide advertisements and become a counter to healthy diets," he added.

Meanwhile, the results of the Indonesian Health Survey in 2023 also stated that the prevalence of anemia in adolescents had decreased to 16.3 percent. However, the Ministry of Health still assesses that this figure is still relatively high and requires further intervention so that the decline continues in the future.

Therefore, the role of the government and people's habits are very important to reduce cases of anemia in Indonesia. Starting from education, providing blood-added tablets in schools, so that people must choose nutritious food for their daily intake.

"The government conducts education, examination, nutritional supplementation, and giving nutritious food in schools. With this effort, it is hoped that the number of anemia in young women can continue to decline," concluded Maria.