The Indonesian Ministry of Health's National Nutrition Status Study (SSGI) shows that 24.5% of children under five (under-five children) in West Java experienced stunting in 2021. This means that almost a quarter of under-five children in West Java have heights below the standard for their age.
Nine regencies/cities had a prevalence of stunted under-five children above the provincial average. The remaining 18 regencies/cities were below the provincial average.
Garut Regency was recorded as the area in West Java with the highest prevalence of stunted under-five children, reaching 35.3% in last year's SSGI. Thus, 1 in 3 under-five children in this regency has a height below the standard for their age. The next areas with the highest stunting prevalence were Cianjur Regency (33.7%) and Bandung Regency (31.1%).
Meanwhile, the prevalence of stunted under-five children in Depok City was the lowest, at only 12.3%. This was followed by Bekasi City (13.8%) and Indramayu Regency (14.4%).
Malnutrition remains a nutritional problem in Indonesia. This is reflected in the prevalence of stunted under-five children, which is still at 24.4%. To improve the quality of Indonesia's superior and high-quality human resources, the government aims to reduce stunting in under-five children to 14% by the end of 2024.