Short Mother Is at Risk of Having a Stunted Child

From the research conducted by IPB University, mothers who are less than 150 centimeters in height tend to give birth to stunted children. So the quality of life of teenagers (especially prospective mothers) will determine the quality of the new generation.

This was conveyed by Dr. Drajat Martianto, Vice Rector of Education and Student Affairs at IPB University while giving a speech at the National Seminar on “Reproductive Health and Youth Characteristics for Building Good Quality Human Resources” at IPB International Convention Center (IICC), Bogor (1/7). This activity was held thanks to the collaboration between IPB University and the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) in commemoration of the 26th National Family Day (Harganas) in 2019.

According to him, the teenagers’ life quality will determine the quality of the next generation in the future. Indonesia is in the demographic transition era where the number of teenagers reaches 65 million people (10-24 years old). “We call them the millennial generation.”

“The development of technology will endanger the teenagers if it is not balanced with a strategy for the development of reproductive health knowledge,” he added.

Meanwhile, BKKBN Deputy for Training, Research and Development, Prof. Rizal Damanik said that this year’s Harganas reflects four concepts, namely family resilience to gather, interact, care and share.

“Indonesia is home to 63.8 million youth or a quarter of the total population of Indonesia and a third of the population of productive age, they are expected to be able to play a role in nation building. BKKBN nurtures the teenagers so that they will have strong characters to build the nation. To achieve this, the BKKBN needs to partner with Higher Education Institutions (PT) which are considered the most competent. PT will provide recommendations that are independent from the point of view of observers and the public regarding population management, family planning and family development programs (KKBPK). BKKBN also has functional personnel who can be assessed independently. Therefore, we partner with universities. For PT, it will be easy for research funding at the BKKBN,” he said.

In the same opportunity, BKKBN and Higher Education Institutions’ Rector Forum in Indonesia signed a partnership agreement.