A Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) Community Service Program (KKN-PPM) team, in collaboration with the Office of Religious Affairs (KUA) in Saptosari District, Gunungkidul Regency, organized a premarital counseling program aimed at preventing stunting. The program was carried out through the development of a counseling module for prospective brides and grooms, as well as training for KUA facilitators.
Allodya Vanesh Marcella, a 2022 undergraduate student from the Faculty of Psychology at UGM and one of the program organizers, explained that the initiative aimed to develop premarital counseling materials to help prevent stunting.
“The development of this premarital counseling material was carried out by providing knowledge related to psychological and physical readiness for family life to prevent stunting,” Marcella said in a statement to reporters on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025.
According to her, stunting prevention programs have so far mostly focused on toddlers or postnatal care.
However, the risk of stunting already exists during the first 1,000 days of life, starting from pregnancy.
“It would be much better if stunting prevention started with prospective brides and grooms to ensure their psychological and knowledge preparedness,” she explained.
The counseling was attended by around 10 participants from KUA Saptosari, who will later serve as facilitators in delivering the materials to prospective brides and grooms.
Marcella said the developed module contains materials on psychological readiness, such as readiness to have children, conflict management skills in marriage, and preparedness to face family challenges.
“We also taught them how to deliver the materials in a way that is more relatable and closer to the audience or prospective brides and grooms,” she added.
Marcella further said that the facilitators who joined the program felt greatly helped, as stunting has long been a significant problem in Saptosari.
“The facilitators felt they could now play a greater role in educating those who are preparing for marriage or family life,” she said.
Through the training module for KUA facilitators in premarital counseling, Marcella hopes that facilitators will be able to provide more comprehensive guidance to prospective brides and grooms, thereby helping to reduce the prevalence of stunting in Saptosari in the future.
Author: Lintang Andwyna
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Lintang Andwyna
Photographs: KKN-PPM UGM Saptosari Team