Data Check: Gibran Says Stunting Is Not Only About Nutrition But Also Sanitation, What's the Data?

Vice Presidential Candidate number 2, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, stated that the issue of *stunting* is not solely about nutrition, but also about clean water sanitation.

He made this statement during the second 2024 Presidential and Vice Presidential Debate series themed "People's Economy, Digital Economy, Finance, Investment, Taxes, APBN/APBD Management, Infrastructure, and Urbanization" at the Jakarta Convention Center on Friday (December 22, 2023).

"Candidate Pair 2 wants to prepare a healthy and intelligent generation. Stunting intervention must include housing intervention; it's not enough to just provide additional nutrition without addressing the home environment. Sanitation of drainage in slum areas must be carried out in parallel," said Gibran.

Gibran's statement aligns with the definition from the Ministry of Health.

According to the Ministry of Health, the causes of stunting include nutritional intake and health status, encompassing food security factors: availability, affordability, and access to nutritious food.

In addition, there are socio-environmental factors, namely norms, infant and child feeding practices, hygiene, education, and workplace. There are also health environmental factors, namely access, preventive and curative services, and settlement environmental factors, namely water, sanitation, and building conditions.

The Ministry of Health's report also shows a 1.39% increase in the percentage of households with access to adequate sanitation from 2020 to 2022.

When viewed by area type, the percentage in urban areas tends to be higher than in rural areas, namely 83.80% for urban areas and 76.99% for rural areas.

During this period, rural areas experienced a 2.72% increase, while urban areas experienced a 0.14% increase.

(Read also: [This is a number of the main causes of children experiencing stunting according to the Kompas Research and Development Survey](https://databoks.katadata.co.id/datapublish/2023/04/11/ini-sejumlah-penyebab-utama-anak-mengalami-stunting-menurut-survei-litbang-kompas))