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BKKBN's Advocacy and Information Mobilization Deputy Sukaryo Teguh Santoso (right) during the event to distribute fortified rice to prevent stunting in Bandung, West Java, on Thursday (January 27, 2022). (ANTARA/HO-BKKBN/FR) - 

The National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) and State Logistics Agency (Bulog) distributed rice fortified with vitamins and other nutrients in a bid to prevent stunting, a chronic lack of nutrition that causes impaired growth.

Through a press statement on Friday, BKKBN's Advocacy and Information Mobilization Deputy Sukaryo Teguh Santoso noted that the nutritionally-fortified rice was distributed through the Stunting Handling Healthy Kitchen Program, or Dashat.

According to Santoso, the program aims to assist in handling stunting by filling nutrient gaps through providing healthy food to pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and infants, specifically those experiencing stunting.

The distribution of fortified rice through the Dashat Program was conducted in Bandung, West Java, among others, on January 27, 2022.

Bulog's Business Director, Febby Novita, noted that the company supports the efforts to meet the people's nutritional requirements by providing healthy, quality, and nutritious food products, such as the FortiVit rice.

FortiVit rice is recommended for consumption for a healthy lifestyle and to prevent stunting, she remarked.

Novita expounded that the fortified rice is rich in micronutrients, such as vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B3, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, iron, and zinc.

The stunting rate in Indonesia categorically remains high. According to the 2021 Indonesia Nutrition Status Study (SSGI), the national rate of stunting declined, from 27.7 percent in 2019 to 24.4 percent in 2021.

Through the Dashat Program, BKKBN strives to raise public awareness on balanced nutrition and to help fulfill the people's nutritional requirements.

Bulog's support aims to optimize the Dashat Program to prevent anemia and address the lack of nutrition in pregnant mothers and children that could cause stunting//ANT