Habibie concerned by malnutrition

Habibie concerned by malnutrition

JAKARTA: President B.J. Habibie expressed concern over the
fact that more than eight million children less than five years
of age were facing malnutrition.

"We could not imagine our future leaders would have poor
nutrition or face malnutrition," Habibie said in Marga Mulya
village, Mauk subdistrict, Tangerang, during the launch of a
national movement to fight malnutrition.

If the problem is left unsolved, he said, these children will
enter the country's workforce 20 years from now without any
competitive benefits.

Citing a 1998 nationwide survey of the country's social and
economic conditions, he said that some 33.3 percent of children
under the age of five were facing the growing threat of
malnutrition.

Habibie said that in the past 20 years, there were few cases
of malnutrition in the country.

He said the problem only arose when the economic crisis hit in
mid-1997, weakening people's purchasing power. (edt)