Surabaya Mayor Eri Cahyadi affirmed that the efforts made by the Surabaya city government in suppressing stunting were not merely limited to focusing on information expedition and intervention but also encouraging health cadres, village heads, and sub-district heads to innovate, so that issues related to stunting could be addressed suitably.
"During a visit to the house of one of the stunted toddlers in Bringin Village yesterday (December 24), I told the sub-district head, village head, and health cadres to be more proactive in cultivating hydroponic fish and vegetables," he remarked.
According to Eri, hydroponic fish and vegetable cultivation is part of an innovative way to lower the stunting rates, though it should irrefutably be balanced with patience of each parent.
The mayor also advised the parents of toddlers with stunting to pay attention to their child's diet by for instance, offering protein-rich foods at least twice a day or by being innovative in serving foods in visually appealing ways to entice children to consume them.
"If the food is decorated (in an compelling style), then the children will like it. Hence, the children will be interested, (and they will eat it)," he remarked.
Cahyadi pointed to the stunting rate in Surabaya having dropped to 34th out of the 38 districts and cities in East Java Province. Earlier, Surabaya was ranked third in East Java in terms of the stunting rate.
The number of cases of stunting among toddlers in 31 sub-districts of Surabaya City in the last three months decreased, from 5,727 cases to 1,785 cases as of December 6. Of the 1,785 cases, the Surabaya city government will conduct comprehensive data collection on them and categorize them accordingly.
The mapping was conducted in order to figure out which ones were residents with or without Surabaya identity cards.
"Thus, the city government's intervention to deal with cases of stunting among toddlers can be prioritized," he added. (*)
