3,000 under-fives suffering from malnutrition in Jakarta

3,000 under-fives suffering from malnutrition in Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): At least 3,000 cases of malnutrition in children
under five years old in the city have been detected during the
current economic crisis, which first hit the country in 1997, an
official said on Monday.

The head of community health development of the city health
agency, M. Husni Thamrin, said that at least 58 of the
malnourished children were presently in the hospital due to
complications resulting from lack of food.

However, he said, so far there had been reports of children
suffering from marasmus kwashiorkor -- a condition of chronic and
acute undernourishment usually caused by a diet deficient in
calories and proteins.

"I think the number of malnutrition cases will continue to
increase if the (economic) condition doesn't show any signs of
abating as a drop in people's purchasing power will prevent an
increasing number of families from buying proper nutrition for
their children," he said.

Thamrin also said the actual figure of malnourished children
could be much higher because the figure was obtained last
December.

By comparison, Thamrin said, at present there are about
500,000 to 600,000 children under five years old in the city.

Undernourishment, he said, became significantly visible about
six months after the crisis began in July 1997. "Maybe at that
time more families were forced to reduce their food intake,
thereby having a big impact on children under five years old," he
said.

He said children suffering from malnutrition could usually be
recognized by their thin bodies in which "their weight is usually
60 percent less than the normal weight".

He explained that malnourished children were found in each of
the city's five mayoralties.

Meanwhile, data for Central, East and North Jakarta alone show
that the number of undernourished children recorded as of January
already reached 3,432.

Out of the 3,432 undernourished children, 1,441 were found in
Central Jakarta with 854 of them being in poor condition, another
1,191 in East Jakarta and 800 in North Jakarta.

Data from South and West Jakarta were not available on Monday.

Thamrin said the city administration would allocate Rp 100
million from its 1999/2000 budget to help undernourished children
by providing food supplements in the form of blended food,
including "staple foods with vitamins and soybean".

"We feel the allocation is too little even though it is an
increase from Rp 40 million to Rp 50 million in the current
budget, where each child gets Rp 750 per day for about 90 days.

"I know that everyone will say that it is not enough, but what
else can we say?" he said.

The food supplement program, which started in October last
year, has been channeled through 43 public health centers, each
of which has had 10 children placed under their care.

He admitted that the food supplement program would not help
much if their families still had difficulty purchasing enough
food for their children. (ind)