240 toddlers malnourished

BOGOR: Head of the public health monitoring unit with the Bogor health agency, Camalia Wilayat, said that currently there were 240 children under five-years-old suffering from poor nutrition.

"Since January, we have found 240 malnourished children in 40 districts. In most cases, these condition were due to the lack of health workers and health posts in the neighborhoods," she claimed.

Thirty-five of the children were suffering from marasmus, one had kwashiorkor, while another five had marasmic kwashiorkor, all of which are results of serious protein-energy deficiencies.

According to the agency's data, out of about 500,000 children under five in Bogor, only 60 percent of them routinely undergo health checks at the village health posts.

"We encourage parents to always bring their children to health posts for thorough checks ... There, we provide the children with food supplements," Camalia said. -- JP