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The Importance of Posyandu in Stunting Prevention

The Foundation is a 2022 sponsor & will continue in 2023 to support YUM who, as you read this report will appreciate, YUM has established a pilot program that other Yayasans could consider to reduce stunting in their areas of focus.

In recent years, YUM has recognized the crucial role of supporting community-run Posyandu (Integrated Health Services Centre) in villages in order to spread knowledge on the risk of stunting among families, especially those currently with pregnant women. Posyandu is the primary milestone in monitoring the growth and development of pregnant mothers, babies and toddlers.

In West Java, all of the Posyandu are now implementing the five-table system and have an average of 5 kader (volunteer health workers). The five-table system is an indication of the quality of the level of service provided. As part of YUM’s holistic approach to stunting prevention, we distribute nutritional packages for mothers-to-be who are part of our program. We hope to provide them with the diverse key nutrients they need to deliver healthy babies. Many of the pregnant women were also provided with iron supplement tablets. Thanks to the hemoglobin level checks, we were able to identify the pregnant women who had iron deficiency and who were anemic.

Let’s hear what Ibu Lala (34 years old) has to say about the stunting program:

I joined the stunting program when I was already 7 months pregnant and continued receiving support up to 3 months after delivery. Every month I received nutritional packages, attended health workshops delivered by volunteer health workers, received iron tablets (during pregnancy) and got a free Hemoglobin level check.

When I delivered my baby, I felt very sad and ashamed because my son, Naki, was born stunted. However, I applied the knowledge and skills that I received in the health workshops at YUM, such as exclusively breastfeeding my baby, eating varied and healthy food and also keeping personal hygiene and sanitation. Finally, when Naki was 2 months old, his nutritional status became normal and he is now growing up to be a healthy baby.

Previously, I rarely came to Posyandu and didn’t know what stunting was. After joining the program, I’m very grateful that I got valuable knowledge and skills!

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