TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo or Jokowi is scheduled to visit East Nusa Tenggara or NTT tomorrow, March 24. One of the areas to visit is South Central Timor Regency, which is the regency with the highest prevalence of stunting.

According to the Indonesian Nutritional Status Study (SSGI), the regency's stunting prevalence was 48.3 percent in 2021. This means that 48 out of 100 children under five in South Central Timor suffer from stunting.

The WHO only tolerates stunting prevalence rate in the range of 20 percent. This means that the prevalence of stunting in South Central Timor is more than twice the WHO standard.

"President Joko Widodo's visit to Soe, the capital of South Central Timor Regency, on Thursday, March 24, shows the his and the central government's concern and commitment for alleviating stunting," head of the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN), Hasto Wardoyo, said on Wednesday.

Based on SSGI 2021 data, NTT still has 15 out of 22 regencies are categorized as red, meaning that their prevalence of stunting is still above 30 percent. The remaining seven regencies/cities have yellow status, with a prevalence of 20 to 30 percent.

"No area in NTT has green status, or has a stunting prevalence of between 10 and 20 percent. Or blue, which is for stunting prevalence below 10 percent," Hasto said.

Hasto Wardoyo, who is also the chief executive of the National Stunting Reduction Acceleration Team, said the government seeks to lower South Central Timor Regency's stunting prevalence to 29.35 percent by 2024.

"The plan is for President Joko Widodo to inspect the programs held by the BKKBN in accelerating stunting reduction in South Central Timor," he said.

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JOHN SEO KUPANG