Indonesia Has the Second Highest Prevalence of Child Stunting in ASEAN

The prevalence of stunting in Indonesian children under five years old in 2015 was 36.4%. This means that more than one-third, or approximately 8.8 million children, suffered from malnutrition, with heights below the standard for their age. This stunting rate is above the WHO threshold of 20%. Indonesia's prevalence of stunting among under-five children was the second highest in Southeast Asia, after Laos, which reached 43.8%.

However, according to the 2017 Nutritional Status Monitoring (PSG), the percentage of stunted children was recorded at 26.6%. This figure comprises 9.8% categorized as very short and 19.8% categorized as short. The first 1000 days of life are considered a golden period for infants, yet many children aged 0-59 months still experience nutritional problems.

To address child malnutrition, the government launched a national stunting prevention program and multi-sectoral partnerships. The National Team for Poverty Reduction Acceleration (TNP2K) implemented a priority program targeting 160 districts for stunting reduction. Based on the 2013 Basic Health Research (Riskesdas), 15 districts/cities had a stunting prevalence exceeding 50%.