Esaunggul.ac.id, A team of lecturers from Universitas Esa Unggul from various disciplines carried out Community Service (PKM) activities regarding stunting rates. The activity funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture’s DRPTM Grant in 2024 was themed “Empowering PKK Groups to Reduce Stunting Rates in Sukamulya Village, Tangerang Through Communication Media”.
The event, which took place in Sukamulya Village, Tangerang, Banten Province, aimed to increase public awareness and understanding of nutrition and health.
This program is also expected to convey information about stunting prevention among middle to lower economic families.
The lecturer team involved in this activity consisted of Dr. Ummanah, S.Sos, M.Si as Team Leader, Ir. Nizirwan Anwar, MT, IPM, ASEAN.Eng, and Yuliati, S.Kep, M.Kep, MM as members.
They worked together with the local PKK group to empower the community through the presentation of educational materials, the provision of healthy and nutritious supplementary food, as well as training in the creation of communication media and website management in the form of a stunting rate information application portal.
According to Ummanah, this activity has great potential to change the community paradigm about the importance of nutrition and family health.
“Through education and the use of effective communication media, we hope to reduce the stunting rate in Sukamulya Village, while empowering the community to pay attention to the health aspects of children,” she explained.
Nizirwan added that one of the important aspects in this activity is the use of technology and communication media. “We trained PKK members to create effective communication media and introduced the stunting rate information application portal. This portal will make it easier for people to access information about children’s nutritional status and stunting prevention.”
Yuliati, as a health science lecturer in the team, led the nutritious food delivery session which was symbolically handed over to family representatives.
“We provide nutritious supplementary foods such as milk, iron-rich biscuits, and vitamins that are needed by children in their growth period. This is a small but important step in helping the community understand the importance of good nutrition for children’s health,” said Yuliati.
In his speech, the PJ Head of Sukamulya Village, Mr. Subki, expressed his appreciation for the initiative of the lecturer team to pay attention to the problem of stunting which is a big challenge in the area.
“We thank the lecturer team for giving more attention to this stunting issue. We hope that through this activity, the people of Sukamulya Village can better understand the importance of nutritional intake and how to manage it properly to reduce the stunting rate in this village,” he said.
In addition to education and supplementary feeding, training in making communication media was also the main focus. Participants were trained to create posters, leaflets, and other content that can be disseminated through various social media platforms.
They were also taught how to use the stunting rate information application portal. This teaching is expected to continue to monitor progress and contribute to stunting prevention efforts.
It is hoped that this step can expand the dissemination of information to communities outside Sukamulya Village.
This activity received a warm welcome from Sukamulya villagers and village officials. The head of the Sukamulya Village PKK, Mrs. Haja Rokayah, expressed her gratitude to the lecturer team for the initiative.
“We are greatly helped by this training. The information presented is easy to understand, and we now know how to prevent stunting. Moreover, the stunting application portal makes it easier for us to monitor the condition of children in our village,” said Ibu Haja Rokayah.
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This activity is part of an ongoing effort to reduce the stunting rate in Banten Province. This event is also expected to be a model that can be applied in other villages throughout Indonesia.
With strong cooperation between academics, government, and the community, it is hoped that the national stunting reduction target can be achieved.
In her closing remarks, Ummanah hoped that this activity could have a long-term impact on the community. “We hope this initiative does not end here, but can continue with the community becoming more aware of the importance of nutrition and the health of their children. Stunting can be prevented if we all play an active role in ensuring children grow up healthy with adequate nutrition.”
Through this activity, villages in Indonesia, especially in the Banten region, are expected to be able to improve the welfare and health of the community, especially in facing the challenge of stunting which is one of the national health development priorities.
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