Minister Of Religion Yaqut: Prevention Of Stunting Is A Religion Order, Not Just A State

Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Quomas alias Gus Yaqut (Photo: BKKBN Public Relations)

BANTUL – The National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) in collaboration with the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) has carried out synergy and collaboration in stunting prevention programs starting from upstream. These efforts are made so that stunting prevention can be followed up and implemented at the grassroots level.

This synergy and collaboration is manifested in the form of launching the Mentoring, Counseling and Health Checkup program in the Three Months of Pre-Marriage as an Effort to Prevent Stunting from Upstream to Bride and Groom Candidates, Friday, March 11 at the Parasamsya Hall, Bantul Regency, DIY Province.

Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas said that preventing stunting for brides-to-be is actually a religious order, not just a state order.

“Stunting prevention is a religious order because preparing the best generation is a nubuwwah treatise. So because of religious orders, let's together pay attention to the reduction of stunting in Indonesia. It should not only be the responsibility of the BKKBN and the Ministry of Religion, but this must be the responsibility of all of us. It is important to do this in collaborative ways, because if it is not done with good collaboration, stunting reduction will be difficult," continued Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, Friday, March 11.

Based on the Indonesia Nutrition Status Study (SSGI) 2021, Indonesia still has a high stunting prevalence rate, which is 24.4 percent, meaning that 1 in 4 children in the country is stunted and is still above the standard number tolerated by WHO, which is below 20 percent.

Stunting is a condition of growth and development failure experienced by children due to lack of nutritional intake for a long time, repeated infections, and inadequate psychosocial stimulation, especially in the first 1,000 days of life.

Stunting is characterized by growth that is not optimal according to age. Stunting is usually short (although short is not necessarily stunting), and intelligence is impaired. The problem of stunting will cause the welfare gap to get worse, stunting can cause sustainable intergenerational poverty.

In addition, stunting can increase the risk of brain damage, and can trigger sufferers to develop metabolic diseases such as diabetes and so on, as well as heart-related diseases in adult sufferers.

With the threat of health and intelligence, the generation affected by stunting will experience various problems in facing the increasingly diverse challenges of life in the future.

In this regard, as an effort to prevent stunting in newborns, the BKKBN in collaboration with the relevant Ministries of Agencies who are members of the Team for the Acceleration of Stunting Reduction (TPPS) has created a mandatory program of mentoring and counseling for prospective brides and grooms.

The Mentoring Program for the bride and groom is carried out preceded by a basic health check by the bride and groom which includes height, weight, upper arm circumference and Hb levels, which are carried out at least 3 months before marriage.

Head of BKKBN Hasto Wardoyo/ Public Relations of BKKBN

Identify stunting risks early on

Head of BKKBN Hasto Wardoyo who is also an IVF expert. said that ideally every bride and groom, 3 months before marriage, must have their health checked (height, weight, upper arm circumference and Hb level). The results of the examination are inputted through the Elsimil application (Electronic Ready for Marriage and Pregnancy).

"After all the data is inputted, if there is a problem to fill in, there will be someone to assist, such as the family assistance team (TPK), midwives and others," explained Hasto Wardoyo.

The bride and groom do not need to worry because the results of the medical examination will not be a condition for marriage. Especially if you are planning to get married in the near future.

"What the results are, anemia or not, it's not a requirement (to get married). If someone gets married suddenly, that's okay because the program has just been launched. We check, if the results are good, then get married, if the results are not good, then get married too. It's just that the results are not good, we provide assistance so that their children are healthy," said the Head of the Implementing Team for the Acceleration of Stunting Reduction.

This health check can be done anywhere. The hope is that the risk factors that can cause stunting babies in Catin/PUS candidates can be identified early and eliminated before marriage and pregnancy.

One of the focuses in mentoring is to increase the nutritional fulfillment of Catin/PUS candidates to prevent chronic energy deficiency and anemia as one of the risks that can give birth to stunting babies.

This assistance will be carried out by the Family Assistance Team (TPK) consisting of 3 (three) elements, namely family planning cadres, PKK, and midwives/health workers who are assigned the task of providing information, education, and counseling virtually or face-to-face to prospective brides who will be getting married in the near future.

For example, the support provided by the Bantul Regency Government. The Regent of Bantul, H. Abdul Halim Muslih said that support for stunting reduction began with the existing posyandu.

“There are 933 posyandu in Bantul Regency, an allocation of Rp 50 million per hamlet. The total budget allocated for all posyandu is IDR 40.5 billion, of which the use is for stunting prevention, "explained Abdul Halim.

According to the Bantul Regent, the posyandu in the hamlet must know exactly how many pregnant women are at high risk and then coordinate with the puskesmas. "The data is already with us. Including those who are less educated, taking care of the womb must be guided by health workers, "said Abdul Halim

Examination is carried out for 3 months before marriage

Data shows that there are still young women aged 15-19 years with a risk of chronic energy deficiency by 36.3 percent, women of childbearing age 15-49 years with a risk of chronic energy deficiency is still 33.5 percent and experiencing anemia by 37.1 percent.

As is known, the high rate of anemia and malnutrition in young women before marriage until the time the woman becomes pregnant has the potential to produce stunting children. Therefore, stunting prevention must be done before marriage. This is done on the grounds that if an abnormality (pathological condition) is found for the prospective wife, it will take about three months to correct the pathological condition.

The most frequent case is anemia in young women who require consumption of blood-added tablets for 90 days. Likewise, if a female Catin experiences an under-nutrition condition such as a lack of protein calories or other vitamin deficiencies, it will take a minimum of three months to improve the situation.

For male Catin, the urgency to pay intensive attention in the pre-marriage period is due to the production of sperm to prepare for fertilization and produce healthy offspring, requiring pre-conditions and fitness for men at least 73 – 75 days in advance (according to the theory of the process of sperm formation/spermatogenesis that took place during that time).