Baby found suffering from chronic undernourishment

JAKARTA (JP): At least one infant has been found to be suffering from chronic and acute undernourishment at the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM) in Central Jakarta.

The mother of the ailing infant, identified as Fauji, said on Tuesday that he was being treated there because, according to one of the hospital's doctors, he was suffering from marasmus kwashiorkor, locally known as busung lapar.

No officials of the hospital were available to comment due to red tape.

Supriatin, 19, the mother of two, told The Jakarta Post she was forced to move her eight-month-old baby to the hospital last week as a public health center in Bekasi was unable to treat him.

"Fauji is continually vomiting and at the same time experiencing diarrhea with his stomach being swollen. The health center's staff suggested moving my baby to RSCM," said Supriatin, who lives in Bekasi, about 40 kilometers east of here.

The weight of the baby was only 5.1 kilograms on Tuesday, far below the normal weight of seven to eight kilos.

His stomach was a bit swollen and his skin wrinkled. It seemed that Fauji could do nothing else than breathe through his open and parched mouth. No voice could be heard when he cried.

His mother said that he could no longer consume food normally so that he was being given intravenous feeding.

Supriatin said she was unable to give her son nutritious food over the last few months, especially after her husband Akram lost his job as an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver.

"I was forced to stop Fauji's milk consumption and give him sweet water every day. The situation worsened as my breasts have not produced milk since three months ago," she said, forcing herself to smile.

Supriatin was also forced to work as a housemaid for Rp 5,000 a day as soon as her husband lost his job after the ojek owner he worked for sold the vehicle.

Fauji was one of about 3,000 undernourished children of under five years of age identified in the city.

The head of community health development of the city health agency, M. Husni Thamrin, said on Monday that children suffering from malnutrition could usually be recognized by their thin bodies and weight which was usually 60 percent of normal.

According to him, malnutrition cases could be found in each of the city's five mayoralties.

Data from a public health center in Menteng district in Central Jakarta showed that malnutrition cases in the area have increased recently so that this year alone the number of sufferers reached 63, up from 57 last year and 11 in 1996.

Out of the 63 were one-year-old twins of Asih and her husband Maman of Menteng Jaya subdistrict.

Due to the poor food they consume, the twins, identified as Nurdian Hidayat and Nurdiahningsih, had not grown normally so that it was still difficult for them to stand straight as their thin legs were not strong enough to support their bodies.

Asih said that every day the two only consumed rice with meatballs bought from a vendor.

"Thank God that I still produce milk so that there is no need for me to buy any at the skyrocketing prices," she said.

She said that her husband, a fruit salad vendor, only allocated Rp 5,000 a day for the family's daily intake. (ind)