The latest Indonesian Nutritional Status Survey released by the Ministry of Health in 2025 shows that the prevalence of stunting in Indonesia remains at 19.8 percent. Meanwhile, the government has set a national target to reduce stunting to 14.2 percent by 2029. To lower the stunting rate and strengthen the quality of human resources, the government has introduced the Free Nutritious Meals program.
Professor of Nutrition and Health Sciences at the Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing at Universitas Gadjah Mada (FK-KMK UGM), Siti Helmyati, said that stunting is a chronic growth disorder caused by various factors, including access to food sources. According to her, the greatest difficulty in accessing food sources occurs in Indonesia’s disadvantaged, frontier, and outermost (3T) regions. She also highlighted the phenomenon of stunting in coastal and inland 3T areas, which, in theory, should have easier access to local food resources.
Professor Helmyati explained that coastal communities often use high-quality seafood not for household consumption but for sale. Economic needs have shifted priorities, turning nutritious food sources that should be consumed by families into commodities that meet market demand.
“In coastal areas, fish consumption for personal nutrition has not been optimized because many highly nutritious fish are sold to the market,” she said on Wednesday (May 6).
In addition to coastal regions, inland areas far from infrastructure and distribution networks also face difficulties obtaining quality food. In some households, Professor Helmyati noted that limited food-processing techniques and a lack of flavor variety encourage parents to serve instant foods to their children.
“Parents sometimes tend to serve instant food to their children,” she said.
The main factor, however, stems from parental education, which influences the urgency of decision-making and priority-setting in child care, especially under limited economic conditions or during times of crisis. Professor Helmyati referred to positive deviance, a behavioral change approach that focuses on local solutions.
“There was a case during the monetary crisis in one region where parents prioritized spending money on fulfilling their children’s nutritional needs, and when examined, the children remained healthy,” she explained.
Children’s nutritional adequacy is also linked to digestive health through the enteric environment, or gut-brain axis. This concept shows how a healthy environment affects digestive and mental health. Professor Helmyati mentioned that physical issues such as dirty surroundings, non-sterile eating utensils, and questionable drinking water quality also contribute to stunting in children.
Among the many factors causing stunting, Professor Helmyati emphasized parental education as an essential foundation for children’s growth and development. She explained how the family ecosystem greatly influences children’s development from pregnancy and childbirth through the first thousand days of life.
“Education for parents is essential. Educated parents can determine priorities when raising children. That is one of the goals of premarital classes, along with maintaining a clean environment and stable economic conditions so that food needs can be met,” she explained.
Author: Ika Agustine
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Zabrina Kumara
Photo: The Jakarta Post