5,948 Families In 8 Villages And 1 Sub District In Belitung Are At Risk Of Stunting

BELITUNG - The Family Planning Population Control and Village Community Empowerment Service (DPPKBPMD) of Belitung Regency, Bangka Belitung Islands Province, noted that as many as 5,948 families in the area are at risk of stunting.

"Based on data from the locus of handling stunting in Belitung in 2023, there were 5,948 families at risk of experiencing stunting," said DPPKBPMD Head, Salman Alfarisi in Tanjung Pandan, Antara, Thursday, February 2.

According to him, the 5,948 families come from eight villages and one sub-district which are the priority loci for handling stunting in 2023.

He mentioned that there were a number of sub-districts that were prioritized for handling stunting, namely Sungai Padang Village (406 families), Air Seruk Village (803 families), Selumar Village (456 families), Keciput Village (408 families), Pelepak Puteh Village (319 families), and Tanjung Binga Village (846 families).

Furthermore, Badau Village (517 families), Kacang Butor Village (397 families), Ibul Village (242 families), Suak Gual Village (142 families), Petaling Village (121 families), and Pangkallalang Sub-district 1,297 families.

"These villages and sub-districts are priority loci for preventing and reducing stunting because the prevalence rate of stunting is still above 14 percent," he said.

Salman explained that for the Pangkallalang sub-district, the stunting prevalence rate was only 4.76 percent.

"However, we still include it as a priority locus for handling stunting because the number of families at risk of stunting in the sub-district is quite high, reaching 1,297 families at risk," he said.

He said the number of stunting villages in Belitung in 2022 had decreased from 18 villages to 11 villages. However, the stunting rate in that area in 2022 will have different results due to different data collection methods.

Based on data from the Indonesian Nutrition Status Survey (SSGI), the stunting rate in Belitung in 2022 was 19.8 percent, up from 13.6 percent in the previous year. However, according to Electronic Community-Based Nutrition Recording and Reporting (e-Ppgbm) data, the stunting rate in Belitung is around seven to eight percent.

"So we think that the valid data is according to e-Ppgbm because every month it is recorded and recorded by health officials directly," he said.

According to Salman, stunting can occur due to many factors such as wrong parenting and nutritional intake.

"Because the knowledge about nutrition is low so that the consumption of nutrition is not balanced it could also be due to inadequate sanitation and other factors," he said.

"So we remind parents when their child is born, especially in the first 1,000 days or two years, nutritional intake must be really maintained," he said.

He is optimistic that the stunting rate in that area can fall below 14 percent according to the national stunting rate target in 2024. "We will continue to work to reduce the stunting rate in line with the national stunting rate target in 2024," he said.