Risks of Stunting and Interventions to prevent Stunting

Abstract

Stunting is defined as a ratio of a child's height to age and gender that is below the standard deviation. Children are said to be short if their height is below -2 SD of the WHO standard deviation. Stunting occurs due to the impact of chronic malnutrition during the first 1000 days of life. According to Bloem 2013 the cause of stunting is malnutrition which involves several things, namely inadequate nutritional intake, difficulty in accessing strong food, lack of knowledge, and social, economic and political aspects as basic aspects. Stunting can cause cognitive disorders in the long term which will affect their economic potential (Prendergast, 2014). The risk of stunting can be caused by low birth weight (LBW), exclusive breastfeeding for less than 6 months, parents' education level, parents' income, and parents' height. To overcome the problem of stunting, the Government through Presidential Decree Number 42 of 2013 concerning the National Movement for the Acceleration of Nutrition with a focus on the age group in the first 1000 days of life (Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, 2013), including: Pregnant women receive a minimum of 90 Blood Supplement Tablets during pregnancy , Providing Supplementary Food  to pregnant women, Fulfillment of nutrition, Delivery with an expert doctor or midwife, Providing Early Breastfeeding Initiation , Providing exclusive breast milk (ASI) to babies up to 6 months of age, Providing Complementary Foods for Breast Milk (MP-ASI) for babies over 6 months to 2 years, Providing complete basic immunization and vitamin A, Monitoring the growth of toddlers at the nearest integrated health care center, Implementing Clean and Healthy Living Behavior. The main target is aimed at expectant mothers, pregnant women and mothers with children under five.