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AKARTA: Almost 2,400 children under five years of age in Tangerang regency, Banten, suffer from malnutrition, the local health agency says.

Agency chief Naniek Isnaeni said she hopes this year the figure will drop to 2,160 children — 0.97 percent of the 223,000 children under five in the regency.

The Tangerang regency administration is currently working to reduce the number of children with malnutrition by improving the role of integrated service posts (Posyandu) in the regency, Naniek said Friday, as reported by Antara news agency.

There are currently 2,131 posts in the regency’s 29 districts, with each post ideally serving 100 children under age five. Based on these figures, Tangerang still needs another 100 Posyandu, Naniek said.

One of the problems encountered in building Posyandu was the refusal of housing developers to allocate land for the construction of public and social facilities, she said. — JP