During adolescence, a person experiences a process of physical growth and development of reproductive organs which tends to increase,thus they need optimal nutrition. Unfortunately, they often have inappropriate eating patterns at that age, both in quantity and quality, resulting in nutritional problems such as anemia and Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED).
Apart from that, teenagers must get used to clean living habits and be active in physical activities to maintain body weight. Anemia and CED can occur due to several things, including lack of intake for a long time, lack of consumption of food sources of Fe, frequent consumption of tea and coffee, especially after eating.
This condition needs to be treated immediately because young women who suffer from anemia and CED are at risk of becoming pregnant women with anemia and CED who will later give birth to stunted babies.
Failure in growth and development experienced by these children can also occur due to early marriage. Women who marry as teenagers will compete for nutrients with the fetus they are carrying. Apart from the chance of giving birth to a stunted baby, young mothers who are pregnant with anemia and CED are also at risk of dying during childbirth.
To prevent this risk, young women are advised to follow a balanced nutritional diet and consume blood supplement tablets (TTD) regularly. “Not all young women want to consume TTD due to the unpleasant taste and smell of TTD, not feeling the need for it, and the side effects that arise such as black secretes and constipation. Therefore, in this education it is explained that the effects that arise after drinking TTD are not dangerous and TTD must be taken because it has very good long-term effects,” said the Head of the UI Service Team, Dr. Ir. Diah M. Utari.
She and the community service team from the Universitas Indonesia (UI) through the Public Health Nutrition Department, Faculty of Public Health (FKM) went to the community to expand health promotion, and invited potential groups, such as ustazah and teachers to get involved in health education. On Friday (15/12), the UI Service Team provided knowledge regarding anemia in adolescents and pregnant women to ustadzah, high school/equivalent teachers, and middle school/equivalent teachers in Pasir Putih Village, Depok City.
According to Diah, the aim of this activity is for ustadzah and teachers to play a role in efforts to accelerate the reduction of anemia and stunting in Depok City. Ustadzahs are expected to be able to share their knowledge with the congregation and the surrounding community, including young women, while teachers can pass on this knowledge to their students.
During this activity, participants were provided with booklets containing material on the health and nutrition of young women. The booklet contains five main materials, namely Adolescent Growth, Balanced Nutrition and the Contents of My Plate, Adolescent Nutritional Needs, Impact of Malnutrition on Adolescents, and Adolescent Nutrition, Pregnancy and Stunting. The UI Service Team consisted of Dr. Ir. Asih Setiarini; Mardatillah, S.K.M.; Latifah S.Gz.; and M. Imaddudin, S.Gz., explained all the material in the booklet.
The educational activity begins with a pre-test and ends with a post-test. The test results showed an increase in nutritional knowledge scores of 30%. This education received high enthusiasm as indicated by the many questions from the participants regarding anemia experienced by young women. Pasir Putih Village Head, Cucu Suardi, S.E., and Pasir Putih Community Health Center Program Manager, Ruri Harini, S.K.M., appreciated the socialization carried out by the UI Team. Both agreed that education for ustadzah and teachers is the right step in accelerating the reduction in stunting rates because they are people who are close to the community.
