Depok, December 9th 2023. The government targets reducing the stunting rate by 14% by 2024, and one of the strategic elements to achieve this target is the Integrated Healthcare Center (Posyandu). This is based on the specific type of intervention to prevent and overcome stunting before birth and the number of children aged 0-23 months who are handled at Posyandu. Some Posyandu activities that are in line with prevention are the consumption of Blood Supplement Tablets (TTD) for young women and pregnant women, education on exclusive breastfeeding for babies 0-6 months, as well as providing Complementary Breast Milk Food (MPASI) which is rich in animal protein for toddlers (children in under two years old), management of toddlers with nutritional problems, immunizations, and nutritional education for teenagers, pregnant women, and families.
This is the background to the Community Service Team (Pengmas) of the Public Health Nutrition Department, Faculty of Public Health (FKM) Universitas Indonesia (UI), chaired by Wahyu Kurnia Yusrin Putra, S.K.M., M.K.M.. The team held activities to increase the literacy of Posyandu cadres with the theme of stunting and anemia as the existence and capacity of cadres as organizers is the main key to the sustainability of the Posyandu. This activity was carried out on Monday (27/11) at the Kalanganyar District Office, Lebak-Banten.
The selection of community service locations was based on the results of the 2021 Indonesian Nutrition Status Survey (SSGI), where the stunting rate in Banten Province reached 24.5%, while Lebak Regency was included in the yellow zone with a stunting rate of 26.2%. Kalanganyar District has a strong commitment to help accelerate the reduction of stunting rates in the Lebak Regency area, including increasing the capacity and literacy of Posyandu cadres.
“We know that one of the keys to success in handling stunting begins with early detection of cases and education on prevention by Posyandu cadres. Therefore, it is important to continue to increase literacy and share experiences with cadres so that Posyandu becomes more empowered and effective in preventing and handling stunting cases. Cadres also need to know that stunted children also have a big chance of experiencing anemia, because animal-based food, which stunted children often don’t consume enough, is also a source of iron,” said Wahyu.
Meanwhile, in her opening remarks, the Head of the PKK Mobilization Team at Subdistrict level, Mayasari, said that the Kalanganyar area still found a number of cases of stunted toddlers. “When a stunting case was identified in the community, the team immediately carried out a home visit to follow up on the findings. Apart from that, Posyandu cadres also actively continue to provide education regarding stunting for residents in their area to prevent the emergence of new stunting cases,” said Mayasari.
The community service activities were divided into two sessions, where in the first session the cadres were divided into several groups and analyzed data from the results of weighing and measuring the height of toddlers. The second session was to convey strengthening points, such as the main causes of stunting, the link between stunting and anemia, and food management to prevent stunting and anemia. Cadres will also receive a module containing these points. At the end of the activity, the cadres stated that this activity was very useful, the atmosphere of the activity was happy and the material was easy to understand. They hope that there will be further activities, especially to strengthen the cadres’ skills in measuring weight and height.
