Early Childhood Disease Rates in West Nusa Tenggara are the Highest in Indonesia

Early childhood, or the golden age for learning and development. Health and nutritious food, especially for young children, determine the speed or slowness of their growth and development cycle.

Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) is the province with the lowest level of early childhood health nationally. This is reflected in the morbidity rate of young children in the province, which has the highest percentage among other provinces, namely 27.39% in 2021.

The rate of childhood illness in NTB is also higher than the national rate of childhood illness. The national rate of childhood illness was recorded at 15.94%.

The next province with the highest rate of childhood illness is Gorontalo at 20.1%. Followed by Aceh with a childhood illness rate of 19.77%, East Java 18.88%, and East Nusa Tenggara 18.56%.

The morbidity rate indicates health complaints that disrupt daily activities. Generally, health complaints that indicate an illness include fever, headache, runny nose, diarrhea, asthma, measles, and toothache.

Furthermore, the morbidity rate is one indicator for determining the level of health in a region. The higher the morbidity rate, the lower the level of health of the community.