BANGKA - PT Timah Tbk handed over additional food packages to children who are stunted in Fisherman 2 Environment, Sungailiat Village, Bangka Regency, Tuesday (22/11/2022).
This provision of additional food is PT Timah's effort to assist in handling stunting in the area. With this additional food package, it is hoped that it can increase children's nutritional intake.
This assistance was handed over directly by PT Timah Tbk to five children who were stunted accompanied by the Secretary of the Sungailiat Urban Village Head and the Management of Fishermen 2 Health Post.
Sungailiat Village Chief Secretary Masykur Sudrajat said that the number of stunting sufferers in Sungailiat Village was relatively small. However, it remains their concern to eradicate stunting.
"One of the factors that cause stunting is marriage at a young age, it will have an impact on the child. That is, with the child's growth decreasing and also the weight scales being very low. Or it can be said that the growth rate is not balanced with the age of children in general," he said.
According to him, this assistance is in line with the Government's program in alleviating the problem of stunting.
"For the Sungailiat Village, there is around 1.02 percent of children who are stunted or around 5 people," he said.
He hopes to continue collaborating with PT Timah T to carry out various programs to educate the public about health.
"We hope that PT Timah will continue to support us in alleviating stunting so that the Sungailiat Village can be free from stunting. Apart from that, they also continue to collaborate in the health sector, such as handling slums and jointly providing education to the community," he said.
Meanwhile, Ida Leman the midwife who served at the Poskesdes Nelayan 2 also revealed that the assistance from PT Timah Tbk was very helpful.
According to her, the Puskesmas has also provided program assistance such as providing additional food. With the quantity, one child gets three additional food boxes in the form of biscuits.
"The assistance from PT Timah is very helpful because indeed children who are stunted come from families whose economy is middle to lower. So programs like this help them to increase the growth of these children," said Ida.
She also hopes that PT Timah Tbk will continue to pay attention to the community, both in the form of education and also insight into stunting so that it can reduce the risk of stunting in children.
He explained, stunting is a failure to thrive, which means there is a disturbance from the growth period and also its development. This greatly impacts the existing sanitation in the environment, both in the form of sanitation and also the existing clean water.
"What we monitor while at the Posyandu is whether the age of the baby matches its growth period or not. Apart from that, we are seeing other developments, whether there is a delay or not, so if it occurs, it can be categorized as stunting," he said.
Meanwhile, Nurhayati (20), one of the parents of a stunted baby, explained that so far the child has been stunted due to a lack of appetite.
"My child has a lack of appetite, but if he drinks milk he will only want it if the measure of the milk is thick. In one month my child can spend 3 to 4 boxes of milk," she continued.
According to her, she has brought children medical and alternative treatment. She is grateful that now her child's condition has started to improve and her child is starting to be active.
"It's only powdered milk that he consumes, while for breast milk (ASI), my child doesn't want to drink it at all," said Nurhayati.
