Decreasing Stunting, What Are Our Contributions?

ONE time when I asked one of the young family planning instructors, I said, can a child with the category of being born stunted be predictable from the start? The answer is uncertain.

Thus, it cannot also be judged that each couple will continue to give birth to offspring (children) with stunting status. This means that the stunting problem can still be prevented as much as possible with joint efforts and commitments starting from individuals as program targets.

To put it simply, let's start with a personal question: what healthy things are we doing now, or have we implemented a healthy lifestyle? A healthy lifestyle is an important key to escape the stunting cycle.

So what is a healthy lifestyle? In the book Sanatana Dharma written by Made Urip Dharmaputra, a healthy lifestyle is a lifestyle that pays attention to all aspects of health conditions ranging from food, drink, nutrition consumed and behavior or daily lifestyle (Kumparan.com).

Quoting from the official website of the Indonesian Ministry of Health written by coil.com, the ways to implement a healthy lifestyle include: doing 30 minutes of physical activity per day, regulating diet, maintaining ideal body weight, drinking 8 glasses of water per day, checking health regularly, get enough rest, and manage stress well. Have the seven patterns above become our lifestyle? let's start introspection.

The Government of Indonesia is Committed

The Government of the Republic of Indonesia is committed to freeing Indonesia's young generation from stunting. Through Presidential Regulation Number 72 of 2021 concerning the Acceleration of Stunting Reduction, the government is moving to develop strategies and programs to realize a stunting-free Indonesia by reducing the prevalence of stunting from 24.4 percent in 2021 to 14 percent in 2024.

Another thing we need to know together is that the government has also established the Five Pillars of the National Strategy for the Acceleration of Stunting Reduction which is part of the 2020-2024 RPJM, namely: Commitment and Vision of National and Regional Leadership, Communication of Behavior Change and Community Empowerment, Convergence of Specific and Sensitive Interventions. at the Center and the regions, Food Security and Nutrition, as well as Strengthening and Development of Systems, Data, Information, Research and Innovation. Through the BKKBN, a national action plan (RAN) has been prepared to accelerate the reduction of stunting in Indonesia (PASTI) which requires the attention and contribution of all parties.

Flashback before the issuance of a specific presidential regulation with the theme of accelerating the reduction of stunting, the government had previously made a stunting reduction strategy starting from 2018 to 2024, namely: Reducing Stunting Prevalence, Improving the Quality of Preparation for Family Life, Ensuring Fulfillment of Nutritional Intake, Improving Parenting Patterns , Improve Access and Quality of Health Services and improve access to drinking water and sanitation.

All of these strategies are very useful if they get the attention of the public in general, because stunting is a common problem that must be solved together with their respective roles and functions.

In fact, in order to be involved with other countries in the world in the concentration of child nutrition and nutrition, since December 2010 Indonesia has joined the global movement "Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) for a decade which seeks to improve nutrition for countries that support this movement (Scaling Up Nutrition Site).

Starting from Family Role

We can prevent and we can reduce the prevalence of stunting by supporting stunting reduction programs starting from the smallest family at home.

Providing marital and health information for newlyweds who will form a small family is a simple example that we should start from now on.

According to dr. Hasto Wardoyo, Head of the BKKBN, one of the factors that influence stunting includes marrying at a young age, the risk of giving birth to stunting children, anemia, the condition of a mother who is malnourished and has the potential to give birth to stunting children (online news article).

So, what are our independent contributions to prevent stunting if we are faced with this global stunting issue?

The answer is of course we are directly involved and ensure some important things as a business that starts from ourselves, namely: we can make sure we get married or married (halal partners) over the age of 19 years, ensure health checks 3 months before marriage, ensure health and hygiene home environment (sanitation), ensuring adequate nutritional intake for parents and the fetus/infant in the womb, as well as ensuring exclusive breastfeeding for 2 years for infants. The first three are pre-wedding, the next two are when they are destined to become new parents.

Why does stunting need to be prevented? because the impact is very complex, including stunted children born with mental weakness, stupid, stunted, and sick! If this happens in the future, it is certain that Indonesia will experience a decrease in its human quality index, national development in the field of human resources will be disrupted.

The Ministry of Religion, which is the leading religious sector among people, is institutionally actively involved, even cross-sectorally Regarding the issue of stunting reduction, several priority flagship programs are implemented as a responsibility to the Islamic community, especially in the quality family preparation sector by providing marriage guidance in stages at each age level, there is the BRUS program, guidance for school-age teenagers, BRUN, premarital marriage guidance to empowerment the economy of the people in the context of revitalizing KUA which elevates the existence of the next level KUA, KUA with a new, modern face which becomes the center of religious services (PUSAKA SAKINAH) at the forefront.

Rafdiansyah,M.H.I , Penghulu Ahli Muda KUA Kec. Martapura Barat*