This Is Important! Parents, Don't Forget To Check Your Child's Growth And Development Through Regular Check-ups At The Posyandu

Chairman of the West Pasaman PKK TP Titi Hamsuardi with local health workers. (AMONG)

PASAMAN BARAT - The government of West Pasaman Regency, West Sumatra asked residents to check their child's growth and development through routine checks at the nearest integrated service post (posyandu).

"Public awareness is asked to bring toddlers or their children to the posyandu to check their growth conditions," said Head of the Family Welfare Empowerment Team for West Pasaman Regency, Titi Hamsuardi at Simpang Empat, Antara, Tuesday, August 23.

He explained that regular checking of children's growth and development is also useful in preventing stunting cases in the area. Stunting is a condition of growth failure in children due to malnutrition for a long time, which is caused by many factors, such as socioeconomic conditions, maternal nutrition during pregnancy, infant morbidity, and lack of nutritional intake in infants.

"This condition causes children to experience delays in development," he said.

He explained that posyandu is at the forefront of stunting management, where health services for infants, toddlers, and pregnant women are prioritized through monitoring once a month. This monitoring is evidenced by their progress notes in the Maternal and Child Health Service Book (KIA) during the examination.

To reduce the stunting rate in West Pasaman, he continued, good cooperation from all relevant parties, from the jorong to the district level, is needed. One of the midwives in Jorong Pagaran Tengah, Witra Sari, conveyed the current handling of stunting cases at the local posyandu for one toddler with the age of 17 months.

"Currently, our cadres, midwives, and puskesmas have tried to handle the current stunting by always coordinating with the child's parents, and currently the child experiencing stunting is under examination by a pediatrician," he said.

He emphasized that in the future cadres and midwives will continue to strive for this stunting case to be quickly resolved.

The results of the weighing in February 2022, based on the electronic Community-Based Nutrition Recording and Reporting (e-PPGBM) data show that 16.31 percent of infants and toddlers are stunted in West Pasaman.

Data from the Indonesian Nutritional Status Study (SSGI) shows that there are 24 percent of stunting infants and toddlers in West Pasaman. The central government is targeting a reduction in stunting by 2024 at 14 percent.