Students and local governments in South Sumatra join forces to combat stunting

The short-term effects of stunting include impaired brain development, reduced intelligence, physical growth disorders, and metabolic disorders.

Meanwhile, the long-term effects include reduced cognitive development in children, learning difficulties, a weakened immune system that makes them more susceptible to illness, and a high risk of developing metabolic diseases.

According to data from the Ministry of Health, the stunting rate in South Sumatra Province stands at 24.8 percent, which is still high compared to the WHO standard of 20 percent.

Nationally, President Joko Widodo has set an ambitious target of reducing the rate to 14 percent by 2024.

To that end, accelerating the reduction of stunting requires appropriate strategies and methods.

To support the acceleration of stunting reduction and prevention, Sriwijaya University—through its faculty community service program and student Community Service Program (KKN)—has established “Stunting Prevention” as its overarching theme or primary objective through the development of sustainable food gardens (P2L).

Read also: South Sumatra Provincial Government Optimizes TPK Task Force to Reduce Stunting Cases

Enhancing Food Security

The thematic KKN activity titled “Sustainable Food Gardens (P2L)” for stunting prevention was carried out by 400 students from various faculties and study programs in 32 villages spread across four regencies, namely Ogan Ilir, Ogan Komering Ilir, Muara Enim, and Pali Regency.

Unsri KKN Field Supervisor Fitra Gustiar, SP, M.Si., explained that the activities carried out by students at the KKN sites from May 30 to June 30, 2022, were tailored to their respective faculties and study programs.

Specifically in the three villages under her supervision—Danau Baru Village, Kasai Village, and Sungai Rotan Village in Muara Enim Regency—35 students from the Faculty of Agriculture and several other faculties and programs conducted outreach on healthy and nutritious food, distributed plant seedlings, and outreach on the development of sustainable food gardens (P2L).

Meanwhile, students from the Faculty of Medicine conducted health education sessions at elementary schools and provided maternal and child health checkups at village health posts (posyandu).

“Through these activities, we hope to motivate the village community to utilize their home gardens to produce healthy and nutritious food, and to increase awareness of family health as well as the growth and development of children—especially toddlers—who need healthy and nutritious food,” he said.

According to him, one of the national strategies for accelerating the reduction of stunting is to improve food security and nutrition at the individual, family, and community levels.

To that end, Unsri is striving to support the accelerated reduction of stunting through the Sustainable Food Garden (P2L) program as part of its Community Service Program (KKN) and community outreach activities, said the field supervisor.

Meanwhile, Sungai Rotan Village Head Ahmad Zazili expressed his gratitude to the leadership and faculty of Unsri who carried out the P2L program in his village to improve the availability of and access to nutritious food.

These community service and KKN activities by Unsri students greatly assist the government in guiding and supporting the village community to prevent stunting.

“We hope that Unsri will always consider Sungai Rotan Village as a partner in community service activities, KKN, and other faculty and student initiatives,” said the village head.

Collaborative Stunting Reduction Program

Reducing the number of stunting cases to meet the expected targets requires a collaborative effort.

Preventing and addressing stunting cannot be done by the government alone without support from other parties and various segments of society.

To prevent and reduce the incidence of stunting—a growth and development disorder in children caused by chronic malnutrition—the South Sumatra Provincial Government is working to optimize the Family Support Worker Task Force (TPK).

South Sumatra Deputy Governor Mawardi Yahya stated that by optimizing the TPK Task Force—supported by midwives, PKK cadres, and family planning cadres—the stunting rate, currently at 24.8 percent, is expected to be reduced to 14 percent within the next one or two years, in line with the national target.

Currently, there are still quite a number of stunting cases among children, particularly in remote areas within South Sumatra.

Given this situation, prevention efforts must continue to be strengthened.

To prevent stunting, his office is working to promote a program encouraging the consumption of fish, as fish is high in nutrients and protein and is affordable.

The people in this province, he said, will continue to be encouraged to make fish a regular part of their diet so they can meet their daily nutritional and protein needs.

“By consuming more fish, in addition to addressing stunting and other health issues, we also hope to improve this region’s Human Development Index (HDI) in line with our targets,” he said.

To motivate the province’s residents to continue consuming even more fish—so that fish consumption levels can be maintained or even increased—his office is working to intensify public outreach efforts regarding the health benefits of eating fish.

"The benefits of eating fish include reducing depression, preventing heart disease, and meeting nutritional needs that can enhance brain function," said Deputy Governor Mawardi.

Zero Stunting Target

The Palembang City Government in South Sumatra is working to achieve zero cases of stunting among children by 2023.

Palembang Deputy Mayor Fitrianti Agustinda stated that to achieve this “zero stunting” goal, two strategic steps have been prepared: allocating a substantial amount of funding and establishing communication forums in 18 subdistricts.

The number of stunting cases in the capital city of South Sumatra Province has been decreasing every year, although it has not yet met the expected target.

According to 2021 data, 490 children were recorded as stunted, a decrease from the 1,100 stunted children recorded the previous year.

In light of this success in reducing stunting rates, the department is striving to further promote activities that can lower the incidence of growth and development failure among children.

The responsibility for reducing stunting cases does not rest solely with the Health Department but extends to all relevant local government agencies (OPDs).

Through substantial funding allocated via the relevant OPDs, efforts to address stunting and establish communication forums across all subdistricts are expected to successfully reduce the number of children with stunted growth due to inadequate nutrition this year, in line with expectations.

Various initiatives aimed at reducing cases of stunting in children will be closely monitored to ensure they proceed as planned toward achieving the goal of “zero stunting” by 2023.

Support from higher education institutions—such as that provided by Unsri Palembang through its community service and KKN programs to prevent and address stunting—will hopefully be emulated by other institutions.

These collaborative efforts can be more effective and help South Sumatra and Indonesia as a whole achieve “zero stunting”—meaning there will be no more cases of stunted growth and development among children, who are the nation’s future generation.