MAKASSAR - The Makassar City Government, South Sulawesi, continues to maximize efforts to handle the growth and development of toddlers and targets zero stunting by 2024.
Deputy Mayor of Makassar Fatmawati Rusdi said the stunting rate of Makassar City was the lowest in South Sulawesi and for several years the figure continued to decline.
"We are targeting 'zero stunting' and the participation of the entire community is needed so that no more children in Makassar have problems with their growth and development," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Sunday, July 24.
Fatmawati said the stunting rate in Makassar has decreased in recent years.
The data he received from the Makassar Health Office showed that the stunting rate fell significantly, in 2020 by 10 percent, down to 9 percent in 2021, and in 2022 it was only 5 percent.
Meanwhile, the stunting prevalence rate in South Sulawesi has also begun to decrease gradually and in 2021 it will be 20.92 percent or 9.08 percent compared to 2020 which reached 30 percent.
"Alhamdulillah, from year to year it has decreased significantly. In the past we were at 10 percent, then it dropped to 9 percent, and now it's only 5 percent. The lowest is in South Sulawesi," he said.
Fatmawati said that although Makassar City's stunting rate was the lowest among 24 districts and cities in South Sulawesi, her party did not want health workers and posyandu cadres to be careless.
Through the stunting raid program, Deputy Mayor of Makassar Fatmawati Rusdi together with related "stakeholders" regularly monitor stunting cases at the puskesmas.
One of the visits was Antang Health Center on Jalan Antang Raya, Manggala District. He emphasized the importance of the role of the community, especially families, in helping the city government reduce the stunting rate.
According to him, the growth and development of Makassar City children must be a serious concern for all parties, because the baton of leadership will be with them.
"So we are going too far to talk about the progress of Makassar City, if there are still our children who are malnourished or malnourished. So today we agreed to work hand in hand in dealing with stunting," he said.
Not only that, Fatmawati also distributed additional food for toddlers. He hopes that there will be no more children who are malnourished, malnourished, or even stunted in Manggala District.
"The data we received was that there were 42 children at the Antang Health Center who were our targets because of lack of growth and development, lack of nutrition, and some were even included in the stunting category of malnutrition," he said.
Meanwhile, Head of Antang Health Center Roslyna Abubakar said the number of stunting in the Antang Health Center's working area reached 42 children.
The number is spread over two villages, namely 20 children in Antang Village and 22 children in Bitowa Village, Manggala District.
"This has received intervention from the nutrition manager of the Antang Health Center," he said.
Head of Makassar Health Office, dr. Nursaidah Sirajuddin said that efforts to tackle stunting in Makassar City continue to show positive progress.
This can be seen from the data released through e-PPGBM or the electronic application of Community Based Nutrition Recording and Reporting.
To achieve the "zero stunting" target, he invites the entire community, especially pregnant women, to pay attention to nutritional intake during pregnancy.
Including mothers who have toddlers are advised to always monitor the growth and development of children. Especially at the age of two years and over.
"So one of the causes of stunting is the lack of nutritional intake of mothers during pregnancy and childbirth. After that we also monitor the development of their children until they are two years old, because stunting can only be seen when it is more than two years old," he said.
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