Malnutrition a threat to Central Java kids
SEMARANG (JP): Nutritional deficiencies could jeopardize the health of eight million infants in Central Java, a hospital administrator warned on Tuesday.
"If the economy continues like this, more and more parents will not be able to meet their children's nutritional needs," said Sulaeman, the director of the Dr. Kariadi General Hospital in this provincial capital.
Four infants are hospitalized for nutritional deficiencies at his hospital, he said, adding "I'm sure there are many more" at other hospitals or whose parents had yet to seek medical attention or were unable to do so. Children receiving treatment at Kariadi are getting better, he said, because they were admitted in the early stages of their disorder.
In data compiled last year, Central Java's 4.16 million poor -- 13.91 percent of its population -- was the highest in the nation.
"We hope that during the crisis no children will be treated for kwashiorkor," Sulaeman said, referring to the condition caused by a high carbohydrate, low protein diet. "That would be very dangerous because organs are already damaged in such a condition."
Dr. Soetomo Hospital in Surabaya, East Java, has reportedly admitted one two-year-old suffering from kwashiorkor.
Stephen J. Woodhouse, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) representative for Indonesia and Malaysia, said on Monday that the Surabaya case was only the tip of the iceberg.
He was quoted by Kompas daily as saying most in danger were fetuses, newborns and infants up to two years old. Ninety percent of human brain cells develop during this crucial period, he added. Woodhouse had said in April that Unicef data revealed eight million infants under five were already seriously malnourished across the country.
Unicef cited research conducted over two years by Helen Keller International up to June this year which found the number of malnourished children in Java was tenfold that of other islands.
The study found the number of underweight infants under 35 months in Central Java rose from 8 percent in 1996 to 14 percent this year.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) has predicted that the economic crisis could lead to 95.8 million people -- about 48 percent of the total population of 202 million -- living below the poverty line by year's end.
ILO defines the poverty line in daily calorie consumption as 2,200 calories. It measures it in daily earnings of US$1 in urban areas, and 80 U.S. cents in rural areas at a conversion rate of Rp 2,300 to the dollar.
On Tuesday, Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare and Poverty Eradication Haryono Suyono said the State Logistics Agency had allocated 2.8 tons of rice for 7.3 million poor families.
Meanwhile, the Palangkaraya mayoralty in Central Kalimantan has listed 2,681 families newly categorized as living below the official poverty line. As of 1996 the Central Bureau of Statistics classified the poverty line for Central Kalimantan as monthly per capita income of Rp 36,997 in rural areas and Rp 47,507 in urban areas.
The head of the local information office, Sudaryanto, said Saturday as reported by Antara that the affected families were spread across two districts, Bukit Batu and Pahandut, which both had 21 subdistricts. Palangkaraya was previously listed as an area free of families living under the poverty line.
The local administration is planning subsidized sales of rice on Sept. 28, in which each family will be able to buy 10 kilograms of the food staple for Rp 1,000 per kg, he said.
The administration will deliver the rice by boat to the more remote subdistricts, Sudaryanto added. (har/01/anr)