Indonesians 'prioritize smoking over families' nutritional needs'

JAKARTA (JP): An expert says 45 percent of Indonesian household heads prioritize cigarettes over their families' nutritional needs, Antara reported on Thursday.

Speaking at a seminar on nutrition in the Central Java capital of Semarang, Martien Bloem, the Asia Pacific Regional Director of Helen Keller International, described his agency's findings on people's poor awareness about children's nutritional needs.

"Based on our research, I conclude that 45 percent of people in Indonesia are prioritizing cigarettes over nutrition," Bloem said.

Furthermore, Bloem said, girls were often discriminated against as many families preferred to give their sons better food.

"I have found out sons are still treated better than daughters (in term of food allotment)," Bloem said.

Hellen Keller International is a New York-based agency that provides aid for blindness prevention and rehabilitation of the blind.

A previous survey conducted by the organization revealed the number of malnourished children in Java was higher than other islands. Last year Central Java was recorded as having 4.16 million poor people or 13.91 percent of its population, the highest in the nation.

Since the economic crisis hit the country in July last year, the number of poor people has soared to 100 million across the country.

Earlier this month, Minister of Health Farid Anfasa Moeloek said malnutrition problems among the country's children was due to a lack of knowledge on health issues.

"This is not just an economic matter but also a problem of ignorance, education and social cultural dilemmas," Farid said.

The United Nations Children's fund (Unicef) has estimated about half the children under three in Indonesia are malnourished and a rising proportion are getting really malnourished.

Also in the seminar on Thursday, M.A. Husaini, a researcher at the Nutrition Research Center in Bogor, West Java, said those most affected by the economic crisis were pregnant mothers and babies.

"Poor nutrition among pregnant mothers will affect (infants') brain development until the age of 18 months," he said.

Newborn babies getting sufficient food will develop one milligram of their brain per minute while malnutrition could damage children's ability to learn.

Husaini explained the effects of malnutrition could be seen from babies' birth weight. A birth weight of under 2.5 kg indicates malnutrition. (01)