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Hundreds of children suffering malnutrition in NTB, 20 die
A long dry spell this year will likely increase the number of children suffering malnutrition, cases of which have continued to rise in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province, an official has said
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long dry spell this year will likely increase the number of children suffering malnutrition, cases of which have continued to rise in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province, an official has said.
M. Ismed Nuramadhani from the information and documentation management unit at the NTB Health Agency said that according to the agency's data, 438 under-5s in the province were suffering from malnutrition as of July. Of that figure, 20 children later died in hospital.
Ismed said the number of malnutrition cases in NTB was liable to increase as the agency had not yet verified the malnutrition data provided by health agencies in the province's eight regencies and two municipalities.
'We have verified the malnutrition data as of July, but the final figure might be higher because we still have to verify the data from August, September and October,' Ismed said Monday.
The eight regencies are Bima, Central Lombok, Dompu, East Lombok, North Lombok, Sumbawa, West Lombok, and West Sumbawa, while the two municipalities are Mataram and Bima.
The agency said malnutrition affected 645 children last year, 32 of whom died.
Ismed said inadequate diets and a lack of nutrition were the main factors behind malnutrition.
'Not all malnourished children come from poor families, however,' he added.
Ismed went on to say that of the total 438 malnutrition cases, 40 were not primarily due to nutritional intake but to birth defects and illnesses, such as tuberculosis, heart disorders, chronic respiratory infections and hydrocephalus.
'Almost all the malnourished children who died also suffered from these conditions,' he said.
To reduce the incidence of malnutrition in the province, Ismed said, the NTB Health Agency had introduced a range of initiatives, such as informing families about adequate diets for children among local communities, restoring integrated health services posts (Posyandu) and providing milk substitutes to families with children under the age of 5.
Ismed said such preventive measures were crucial as there may be more malnutrition cases in the province through December due to the dry season, which he said may well be longer than usual because of climate change. (ebf)(+++)
