Malnutrition threatens Java's children
By Haryoso
SEMARANG (JP): Community health centers in the Purbalingga regency are overwhelmed by a stream of under five-year-olds admitted with symptoms of malnutrition. Health authorities have reported 190 children are seriously undernourished and receiving medical treatment.
At least one child under the age of five reportedly died in Sidorejo village.
"When the child died, no one was there. The mother on the verandah was not aware her child was dying. She thought the child was fast asleep," said Hartono, 36, a neighbor of the family.
Dr. Tamsu Darsasaputra, a pediatrician at Purbalingga general hospital, said most of the malnourished children were admitted in a critical condition and were receiving intensive medical treatment.
He recalled treating several seriously sick children who were "lumps of skin and bone", one of them a two-year-old from Sidorejo village.
"We told the child's relatives the medical service was free of charge. But before the child recovered, (the family) secretly checked (the patient) out. We heard the patient died several days later."
The Purbalingga government has embarked on a health campaign on nutrition, food supplements and treatment of malnourished children. In addition, it has distributed packages of food to poor families. The package contains sugar, rice flour, egg, ground nut oil, biscuits, margarine and milk.
Most of the malnourished children come from poor families, such as blue collar workers who lack nutritional knowledge.
"Some of them sold the government food package to buy cheaper food instead of giving it to their children," said Tamsu.
Subowo, a health expert from Diponegoro University and member of the provincial legislative council responsible for social welfare, emphasized the nutrition crisis affects all regencies in Central Java. He estimated the number of underfed children to be in the "thousands".
Hardest hit regencies are those along the north coast: Tegal, Brebes, Pekalongan, Pemalang, Batang, Kendal, Demak, Purwodadi and Rembang.
Subowo suggested the government make every effort to overcome the food crisis among five-year-olds, including collecting donations from the wealthy.
Quoting a statistic released by the Indonesian office of Unicef, Subowo predicted the deepening economic crisis may cause up to 50 percent of Indonesian children to suffer from malnutrition.
"Based on this information, we predict the future younger generation will be inferior."
There are widespread fears malnutrition will cause an abrupt hike in the infant mortality rate in Central Java, which currently stands at 55 per 1,000 births. Tuberculosis and other infectious diseases are also expected to ravage the young.
As the economic crisis continues, the maternity death rate is also predicted to rise because less mothers can afford to give birth in the safety of clinics and will turn to traditional midwives.
Separately, nutritionist Ali Khomsan of the Bogor Agricultural Institute said Indonesia is not experiencing a food shortage but a great number of people were suffering from malnutrition because their purchasing power had substantially dropped.
Poor people could no longer afford nutritious food because of the plummeting value of their money. So severe is their financial problem that their children's education is ignored, he said.
"With a combined poor nutrient intake and poor education, future human resources will be in crisis.
"Indonesians will be shorter as will be their life expectancy."
He said those suffering nutritional deficiencies from conception would have a smaller brain with up to 25 percent to 40 percent less cerebral cells than well nourished children.
The poor children will constitute Indonesia's "lost generation". It is estimated that between 10 years to 20 years will be needed before Indonesian people retain their precrisis nutritional status.