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ublic participation in community health programs in Sikka regency, East Nusa Tenggara, is thought to have contributed to the 9 percent reduction in malnutrition cases across 15 villages in the regency.

Initiated as part of the Community Action to Improve Maternal and Child Nutrition (CAIMCN) project in Maumere, facilitated by the local health agency in partnership with Plan International Indonesia, the program included training for locals on health and nutrition, how to grow and cook vegetables so as to improve nutritional supplies and health education for pregnant women.

CAIMCN program manager Marzalena Zaini said the health agency and Plan International Indonesia worked together to promote breastfeeding among new mothers, encouraging them to feed their babies exclusively with breast milk between the age of 0 to 6 months, and to continue to give breast milk alongside a variety of nutritious food until the child has reached two years of age.

Marzalena said pregnant mothers were encouraged to visit their local health facility at least four times during their pregnancy and were required to attend a post natal visit within 48 hours of giving birth.

“The result shows that from 2012 to 2016 malnutrition cases among children between 0 to 5 years of age decreased by 9.02 percent,” she said.

Plan International Indonesia country director Myrna Remata-Evora expressed hope that the community would continue the practices they had learned, saying participation was needed to maintain the quality of maternal and child nutrition.

She said that in four years, from June 2012 to June 2016, the CAIMCN project in Sikka had seen 262 skilled integrated service post (Posyandu) cadres and 61 trained teenagers get involved as PMBA motivators in the 15 participating subdistricts across three districts.

Oktavian Seni, 38, a program participant, said she learned about the importance of local foods such as vegetables to improve child nutrition.

“The vegetables are available here in our village. I cook them as food for my toddler,” she said, adding that the weight of her three-year-old child increased by 200-300 grams periodically thanks to consuming locally available nutritious foods.

Sikka regent Yoseph Ansar Rera said that the nutrition improvement program had been conducted in the regency over a long period of time but malnutrition cases never completely disappeared, partly due to improper food processing within the family home.