Malnourished babies found

Malnourished babies found

BATANG, Central Java: The health agency here has placed 29
infants under a special care regime in a number of community
heath centers due to malnutrition.

Head of the agency Wahyu Rahadi said 27 of the babies were
found in the poor subdistrict of South Karangasem in this Central
Java town, some 60 kilometers west of the provincial capital of
Semarang.

He said he had suggested that the babies be treated in the
town's general hospital but the parents had refused.

The agency's nutrition unit head Mohammad Amin said the
malnutrition cases were found late in April during a regular
weighing of children at health posts across the town.

A follow-up survey conducted in South Karangasem village
revealed that the residents, who mostly work for local fishermen,
could not feed their children properly due to a decline in their
wages recently.

The findings have come as a surprise as Batang has never
before been recorded as a regency with such problems.
Malnutrition had previously been found only in Rembang, Blora and
Banjarnegara. -- JP