Malang, seklasmedia.com- Stunting is a condition where children fail to thrive (body and brain growth) due to prolonged malnutrition. Thus, children are shorter or have short stature than normal children of their age and have delays in thinking. Generally caused by food intake that is not in accordance with nutritional needs.
Environmental factors that play a role in causing short stature include the nutritional status of the mother, insufficient protein in the proportion of total caloric intake, feeding patterns for children, environmental hygiene, and the incidence of infection early in a child’s life. Apart from environmental factors, it can also be caused by genetic and hormonal factors. However, most short stature is caused by malnutrition.
To prevent stunting in the Dampit area of Malang Regency, the Dampit Village Midwife together with the Posyandu cadre head, Posbindu cadres, Babinsa Koramil Dampit, Bhabinkamtibmas Dampit Police and Head of the Dampit Village Alert Village along with their cadres carried out stunting activities at Posyandu Dandelion 6 Jl.Simpang Pahlawan.
According to the Midwife of the Dampit Sub-District, the Dampit Health Center, Hening Marhaeni S.TR.Keb., when met by the media crew on Tuesday (04/03) explained that if nutrition is not fulfilled properly, the impact will have short-term and long-term effects.
“Short-term symptoms of stunting include developmental delays, decreased immune function, suboptimal brain development which can affect mental and learning abilities, as well as poor academic achievement,” said Hening.
Meanwhile, according to Silence, long-term symptoms include obesity, decreased glucose tolerance, coronary heart disease, hypertension, and osteoporosis.
“To prevent stunting, protein consumption greatly affects the height and weight gain of children over 6 months. Children who get protein intake of 15 percent of the total required calorie intake are proven to have a taller body than children with protein intake of 7.5 percent of total calorie intake. Children aged 6 to 12 months are recommended to consume a daily protein of 1.2 g/kg body weight. Meanwhile, children aged 1–3 years need a daily protein of 1.05 g/kg body weight,” he explained.
Hening also explained that the first 1,000 days of life is a critical period for stunting. The impact of stunting generally occurs due to a lack of nutrition in the first 1,000 days of a child. The 1,000 day count here starts from the fetus until the child is 2 years old. The problem of stunting occurs starting from the womb and will only be seen when the child is two years old. Early pregnancy until the child is two years old (the period of the first 1000 days of life) is a critical period for growth disorders, including short stature.
“Symptoms of stunting in children include shorter stature for children of their age, body proportions tend to be normal but children look younger or small for their age, low body weight for children of their age, bone growth is delayed, anticipation of stunting in children is by doing regular pregnancy checks,” he explained.
According to him, avoiding cigarette smoke and fulfilling good nutrition during pregnancy include a balanced healthy menu, adequate intake of iron, folic acid, iodine. Make regular visits to the doctor or other health care center to monitor the growth and development of the child, ie.
“Every month when your child is 0 to 12 months old
every 3 months when your child is 1 to 3 years old
every 6 months when your child is 3 to 6 years old
every year when your child is 6 to 18 years old, you take part in an immunization program, especially basic immunization.
Give exclusive breastfeeding until your child is 6 months old and provide adequate solids.” he concluded. (BASS)
