Get to Know Wasting and Stunting in Children

26 December 2024

wasting & stunting

What is Wasting?

Wasting is a condition where a child experiences low body weight compared to his height (WW/TB). Children who experience wasting can be classified as malnourished or malnourished and the child will appear thin or very thin.
The main cause of wasting is children's inadequate food intake, both in terms of quality and quantity, the next cause is the result of children often experiencing recurrent infectious diseases.

Stunting is a condition where a child has a short height compared to his age due to chronic (long-term) malnutrition.
Children can be said to be stunted if their height is below -2 or below -3 standard deviation (SD) of the WHO growth chart.
The main cause of stunting is that children's food intake is chronically inadequate, both in terms of quality and quantity, and/or children often experience recurrent infectious diseases so that children cannot grow optimally.
Children who are at risk of stunting are children who experience chronic malnutrition from the time they are in the womb until they are 2 years old or referred to as the first 1000 days of life (HPK) or what is often referred to as the Golden period.
Children who suffer from stunting do not always look thin, in fact sometimes children can look normal or even fat, because their height is shorter than the height they should be at that age.

Lack of intake both in terms of quantity and quality when compared to the child's age
Lack of parental knowledge regarding health and nutrition before pregnancy, during pregnancy and after giving birth
Wrong parenting style
Recurrent infections
Limited health services
Lack of household access to nutritious food
Lack of access to clean water and sanitation

Short term impact:

Long term impact:

brain development disorders,
reduce children's intelligence (IQ will decrease)
In the future, children will also have the potential to experience obesity and metabolic syndrome such as diabetes mellitus, cancer, heart disease, etc.
And the most fatal thing is that it increases the risk of death

Wasting and stunting can occur simultaneously
The risk of death will increase if the child experiences wasting & stunting simultaneously
Children who experience wasting if not treated properly have a 3x higher risk of becoming stunted.
Therefore, "Let's prevent and overcome wasting so it doesn't become stunting"

Improving the nutritional status of mothers since pregnancy
Provide exclusive breast milk until the baby is 6 months old and after 2 years
Provide complementary foods for breast milk with sufficient quantity and quality of nutritional content
Always monitor your child's growth and development at the doctor
(BB, TB, LK every month until the age of 1 year,
(BB, TB, LK every 3 months until 2 years of age,
(BW, TB every 6 months after 2 years of age).
Complete immunizations according to the IDAI recommended schedule
Maintain personal and environmental cleanliness

To ensure good growth and development, have your child checked regularly at Premier Bintaro Hospital.

For information & to make a doctor's appointment, contact: