Baby found suffering from chronic undernourishment
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)