Is It True That Sweetened Condensed Milk Causes Stunting Children? This Is Ministry Of Health's Response

ILLUSTRATION/UNSPLASH/Nikolai Chernichenko

JAKARTA - The government's efforts to reduce the stunting rate in Indonesia really need to be followed by the community's efforts to increase the levels of nutrition in their daily intake.

There is concern that sweetened condensed milk (SKM) is one of the causes of stunting because it has high sugar content and low nutrition. Is that true?

Head of the Bureau of Communication and Public Services of the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) Siti Nadia Tarmizi explained that SKM cannot fulfill nutrition. However, when a child experiences stunting, it does not mean that the factor is only SKM consumption.

"Regarding the causes of stunting due to dietary patterns, maybe you can check again. One of the studies conducted by FKUI was that children under five were fed rice with a side dish of fried potatoes, instant noodles, meatball sauce, and sweetened condensed milk," Nadia told reporters, Thursday, February 16th.

Nadia explained, sweetened condensed milk is a dairy product that has the characteristics of a milk fat content of not less than 8 percent and a protein content of not less than 6.5 percent.

On this basis, the high level of sugar in a sweetened condensed milk product should be of concern to the public. Because, according to the Ministry of Health regulations, the maximum sugar content limit in SKM is up to 50 grams.

"Actually there have been several socializations from BPOM with the Ministry of Health and nutritionists. So, SKM is not a form of drink but a complement to servings. Then, SKM cannot replace breast milk and is not suitable for babies until the age of 12 months," said Nadia.

Previously, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stressed that the problem of stunting in children was not only a matter of height but also cognitive abilities and immunity in children.

"The impact of stunting is not only a matter of height, but what is most dangerous is a child's low ability to learn, mental retardation, and the emergence of chronic diseases that can easily enter a child's body," Jokowi said at the opening of the Bangga Kencana National Working Meeting (Development Family, Population and Family Planning) and Reduction of Stunting in Jakarta, Wednesday 25 January.

Jokowi instructed that the target of reducing the stunting rate to 14 percent in 2024 must be achieved. By working together, he said, achieving this target would not be difficult.

"As long as everyone works together. Because in ASEAN we are still in the middle; 21.6 percent is in the middle, but later when it reaches 14 percent we will be slightly below Singapore," he said, quoted by Antara.

Based on reports from the Ministry of Health, the highest percentage of stunting occurs in five provinces, namely East Nusa Tenggara, West Sulawesi, Aceh, West Nusa Tenggara, and Southeast Sulawesi. However, if calculated in terms of numbers, the highest percentages are in West Java, East Java, Central Java, North Sumatra, and Banten.

The President reminded that the number of children under five in the country is not small, reaching 21.8 million. However, the number of integrated service posts (posyandu) and community health centers (puskesmas) in Indonesia is not evenly distributed, with a total of 300,000 posyandu and 10,200 puskesmas.

If the health infrastructure can be properly mobilized, he said, then the problem of stunting will be easily resolved.

"The problem is that puskesmas are not spread evenly throughout the country. There is one sub-district (has) seven (puskesmas), and one sub-district (has) two (puskesmas). It is this equity that needs to be looked at," he said.