How can future generations that lack nutrition maintain this nation’s sovereignty?
Jakarta (ANTARA) – People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Deputy Speaker Lestari Moerdijat has urged the government and all elements of society to cooperate in handling the issue of fulfilling children’s nutrition and preventing stunting to realize Golden Indonesia 2045.
“We plan to produce smart generations to realize Golden Indonesia 2045, but the basic problem of fulfilling children’s nutrition has not been resolved,” she noted in a statement issued on Wednesday.
“There must be consistent and measured efforts to handle nutritional adequacy for the nation’s future generation,” she said during an online discussion on ‘Anticipating Lost Generation due to Stunting,’ held by Denpasar Discussion Forum 12.
Preparing the nation’s resilient future generation through resolving the problem of nutrition and stunting must be consistent and measured. A collective effort has to be made to realize it, she said.
Data from the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) shows that currently, Indonesia has a high stunting prevalence of 24.4 percent.
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This means that one out of four children in the nation experience stunting, and the figure is above the threshold set by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is below 20 percent.
“With this condition, we must prepare the younger generations so that they are capable of managing this nation well in the future,” Moerdijat remarked.
Thus, the target to reduce stunting cannot be achieved just by setting numbers. It has to be realized through several steps, she opined.
“The problem of stunting is not just about health, but more than that: it affects the nation’s resilience. How can future generations that lack nutrition maintain this nation’s sovereignty?” she asked.
The involvement of all parties is necessary to immediately handle the problem of stunting within the nation, she remarked.
“Especially since our Constitution has determined that the purpose of the nation is to protect every Indonesian, advance general prosperity, and to make the people smart,” she highlighted.
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