A national survey reveals that the stunting rate among Indonesian children is declining, marking positive progress towards reaching the 14% target by 2029, set by the country’s President.
“Most stunting cases begin at birth,” states Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin. “That is why our focus must be on the mother; we should not wait until the baby is born. Mothers must not experience malnutrition.”
The national stunting rate was 21.5% in 2023. To generate the latest National Nutritional Status Survey, data were collected from approximately 345,000 households with infants in 2024, showing that the national stunting rate had dropped to 19.8% in 2024. Efforts must intensify to further reduce the prevalence to 18.8% by the end of 2025. The national stunting prevention strategy is focused on six high-priority provinces – Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java, North Sumatra, and East Nusa Tenggara – which collectively account for over half of the country’s stunting cases. “If we can slash down stunting by 10% in each of these provinces, we could lower the national rate by four to five percentage points.” Early prevention is crucial, as is improving maternal health and nutrition. Therefore, health workers are encouraged to take proactive measures, including screening pregnant women for undernutrition by measuring arm circumference and haemoglobin levels, and providing iron and other micronutrient supplements as needed.
