Malnutrition menaces C. Java children<\/p>\n
By Haryoso<\/p>\n
SEMARANG (JP): Sumirah is daydreaming. The 36-year-old mother
\nis wishing that the days when she could properly feed her two
\nunder-5 children were back.<\/p>\n
\"Every day, I ask myself what I can give my children to eat,\"
\nshe said numbly while watching the children, aged 2 and 4, play
\nin front of their humble house in Rembang, some 100 kms east of
\nhere.<\/p>\n
Her husband is a pedicab driver who earns a mere Rp 3,000 (30
\nU.S. cents) a day. The income is far from enough to support the
\nfamily of four with the price of rice having soared as high as Rp
\n4,000 per kilo.<\/p>\n
\"Often, my husband and I have to eat cassava so that we can
\nhave money to buy rice and tempeh for the children,\" she said.
\n\"We will do everything to ensure they don't get skinny.\"<\/p>\n
The Suparlans, Sumirah's neighbors, are in the same boat. The
\nparents eat cassava as the economic crisis bites deeper. Rice is
\nonly for their three children.<\/p>\n
\"My wife and I can stand hunger and we don't want to see our
\nchildren underfed and have distended bellies,\" said Suparlan, a
\nhawker of children's bamboo toys.<\/p>\n
The deteriorating economic abyss has left him wondering how
\nhis family can survive and how his children, in their tender
\nyears, can grow normally if they lack vital nutrition.<\/p>\n
Fear of widespread malnutrition due to the worsening crisis,
\nespecially among children, has been voiced by M. Sulaiman, a
\nnutritionist of Kariadi General Hospital, Semarang.<\/p>\n
He estimated that most of the about eight million children
\nunder 5 in Central Java are vulnerable to the threat unless the
\ncrisis is over very soon.<\/p>\n
\"If the crisis lingers on, more and more people won't be able
\nto afford to buy basic needs,\" he noted.<\/p>\n
The Kariadi Hospital is currently treating four malnourished
\nchildren.<\/p>\n
\"They are getting better because their parents admitted them
\nto the hospital at an early stage,\" said Sulaiman.<\/p>\n
Experts say that late medical treatment could result in death
\nor, at least, serious physical disabilities because vital organs
\nare already affected.<\/p>\n
Sulaiman noted that the soaring prices have catapulted prices
\nof protein and vitamin-rich foods such as eggs, milk, meat and
\nfish. Many parents have substituted cassava and rice curry.<\/p>\n
\"The best way to overcome the problem would be for the
\ngovernment to lower prices of basic commodities,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Pediatrician Satoto, of Diponegoro University, Semarang, said
\nthere is no doubt the continuing economic crisis would be
\ncatastrophic to the health of children from poor families.<\/p>\n
He likened the present condition to that of the 1950s. He
\nrecalled that children who enrolled in primary school in the
\n1970s, when the economy had recovered, were taller than children
\nin the 1950s.<\/p>\n
Satoto proposed that for animal protein, people from the low-
\nbracket groups eat fish, which is cheaper than meat.<\/p>\n
\"But, the best solution would be to lower the prices of food,\"
\nhe said, noting that malnutrition would also affect pregnant
\nwomen and fetuses.<\/p>\n
Nutritionist Fatimah Muis, also from Diponegoro University,
\nwarned that malnutrition has \"serious\" consequences for the
\nfetus.<\/p>\n
Physically, one defect will be apparent from the newborn's low
\nbirth weight, usually less than 2.5 kilograms, she said. If
\nmalnutrition continues for nine months, the baby will be highly
\nvulnerable to infection.<\/p>\n
As the child grows it will very likely have lower intelligence
\nand a smaller physique, she said.<\/p>\n
Reports about the growing malnutrition problem have prompted
\nthe Central Java provincial health authorities to provide food
\nfor impoverished families.<\/p>\n
The provincial health office's chief, Sri Astuti, said the
\ngovernment has been providing food supplements to pregnant women,
\nnursing women and children in poor families.<\/p>\n
\"The government has been providing pregnant women and workers
\nsuffering from anemia with iron tablets, and children under 5
\nwith iodine capsules and Vitamin A,\" she said.<\/p>\n
People here, and everywhere, share a common hope: an end to
\nthe economic crisis so that they can afford to buy basic
\nfoodstuffs, enough for a decent living.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/malnutrition-menaces-c-java-children-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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