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View all search resultsEl Niño may raise stunting rate as food output falls and prices rise
IDAI chairman Dr. Piprim Basarah Yanuarso said children are among the most vulnerable groups affected by climate change due to their still-developing immune systems and limited ability to regulate body temperature.
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A boy passes through a drying rice field on June 25, 2023, in Pajukukang village, Maros regency, South Sulawesi. Some rice farmers in the region abandoned the crop after their crops failed due to the drought. (Antara/Arnas Padda)
A
looming “Godzilla” El Niño raises fears of a rise in child stunting, with experts warning the phenomenon could increase malnutrition rates as crop failures and soaring food prices threaten vulnerable communities nationwide.
El Niño is a naturally occurring climate phenomenon marked by the periodic warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. It typically brings hotter and drier conditions to Indonesia, extending the dry season and reducing rainfall across the archipelago.
The Indonesian Pediatric Society’s (IDAI) Environmental Health and Climate Change Task Force warned that stunting prevalence, recorded at 21.6 percent in the latest 2022 Health Ministry survey, could rise by 15 to 25 percent as El Niño intensifies this year.
“El Niño causes an extreme dry season that leads to crop failures and rising food prices,” the task force chairman Darmawan Budi Setyanto said on Tuesday, as quoted by state news agency Antara.
“These conditions can limit access to nutritious food, particularly for children, increasing the risk of both acute and chronic malnutrition that could ultimately lead to stunting and impair children’s intellectual development,” he added.
IDAI chairman Dr. Piprim Basarah Yanuarso said children are among the most vulnerable groups affected by climate change due to their still-developing immune systems and limited ability to regulate body temperature.
He said the effects of a prolonged El Niño extend beyond worsening malnutrition caused by rising food prices. Extreme heat and extended dry spells could also increase the risk of dehydration and heat stroke among children, while worsening water shortages may force communities to rely on unsafe water sources.
