Marasmus found in Jakarta

Marasmus found in Jakarta

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Looking pale, Rahmatulloh, a two-and-a-half-year old boy who is
afflicted with marasmus, or extreme malnutrition lies helplessly
in his hospital bed at the Koja public hospital in North Jakarta.

All he can do is cry, asking for his father, Junaidi, to carry
him in his arms.

Weighting only five kilograms, which is far from the ideal 15
kilograms for a toddler his age, Rahmatulloh also has
tuberculosis and anemia, both a result of a severe lack of
nutrition.

"Ever since he was born, he rarely eats rice. Not even
porridge. He also never consumed breast milk from his late
mother," Junaidi told The Jakarta Post at the hospital on Friday.

Rahmatulloh is not the only son of Junaedi who is receiving
medical care. Three-and-a-half-year-old Abdul Mu'in is also being
treated at the hospital for malnutrition.

Rahmatulloh and Abdul Mu'in are just two of 12 severely
malnourished children in Jakarta. According to City Health Agency
head Abdul Chalik Masulili, there are some 8,450 undernourished
children in the capital.

Currently, Koja hospital is treating six undernourished
children, who came from across the North Jakarta municipality.

Junaidi, who earns a living by working as a port laborer,
lives with his eight children in a five-by-three meter plywood
shanty in the Penjaringan District, North Jakarta.

He initially had 11 children, but lost three of them to
disease.

His children lost their mother six months ago, leaving him as
the sole parent to take care of his eight children.

"He has too many children, and their ages are too close. Their
house is too small and dirty for his children to live in," said
his neighbor, Putut Sunyoto.

Junaidi's eldest child is Nurdin, 14 and the rest are Dodi,
13, Nawawi, 10, Maesaroh, nine, Yusuf, eight, Mutmainah, five,
Abdul Mu'in, three and Rahmatulloh, two years and six months.

Junaidi acknowledged that since his wife's death, his
children's health has continued to deteriorate as they didn't
have someone to prepare them nutritious meals anymore.

Dodi, who quit school after his mother passed away, said that
his little brothers had difficulty eating even though he cooked
for them every day.

"I cook one liter of rice and serve two fried milk fish almost
every day," Dodi told The Post at his house in Penjaringan.

Darma Diyani, a volunteer at the integrated service post
(Posyandu) near Junaidi's house, said that Junaidi's health
awareness was more a cause of his children's illness than
economic hardship.

"The Posyandu is just five meters away. But he refuses to have
his children immunized or to have them examined. When his wife
was alive, he also refused to use contraceptives," Diyani said,
adding that the other 200 children under five living in the
community unit were in good health.

Junaidi admitted that he refused to use contraceptives because
he believed that it was against his religion, but he admitted
that he should pay more intention to his children's daily
nutritional needs.

"After my sons are cured, I promise to be more careful in
taking care of their health," said Junaidi. (006)