The Difference Between Stunting and Stunted Growth

Have you ever heard about Stunting and Stunted Growth? The misconception of Stunting and Stunted Growth is common in our society. Both are indicated by the low height for age in the child. Nevertheless, it’s too deafening to say that every short child is identified as stunting. But, there’s a huge difference between stunting and stunted growth. Here are some of them.

Stunting VS Stunted

Cited in the Indonesian Basic Health Research, in 2013 less more than 9 million Indonesian toddlers identified stunting. This data leads Indonesia to the fifth country with the largest burden of stunting in the world. It can be seen that stunting is a lurking threat to Indonesian children. Stunting, according to the Indonesian Ministry of Health is a condition of growth failure due to poor nutrition during pregnancy. Meanwhile, the stunted child is also indicated by growth failure. Therefore, a stunting child is definitely indicated by stunted growth, but not every stunted child is identified as stunting.

Not Every Stunted Child is Stunting

The growing misconception of Stunting and Stunted child is crucial to justify. In some cases, the stunted child is purely caused by the lack of nutrition. But it is crucial to note that the stunted child is genetic of short parents. It can also be caused by Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD), the low level of thyroid hormone levels, as well as bone abnormalities.

“Stunting Child is Short”, a Simplistic Statement

The characteristics of stunting in children that can be easily identified are the lack of height of children compared to children their age. But stunting is not only about height disorders but also chronic growth delays such as delays in growing teeth, faces that appear way young, and delays in puberty. The late management of stunting can have a bad impact in the long run. Chronic growth delays affect the development of brain performance so that children with stunting have poor performance in cognitive abilities. This will definitely lead to the degradation of the economic and social of the family. Therefore, it is crucial to monitor continuously the growth and development of children, in 1000 days of early age.

Early Detection of Stunting in Children

Stunting in children over 2 years old can not be cured but there’s a way to improve the quality of life by meeting nutritional needs for a long period of time. However, if growth disorders have been detected at 1000 days of early age, the prevention of stunting effect can be reduced. The government of Indonesia, itself has released standards for child growth measuring devices in accordance with the Regulation of the Minister of Health no. 2 of 2019 such as Infantometer Board, Stadiometer and Stunting Kit. There are also Tikar Pertumbuhan and Infant Ruler for baby and toddler measurements that can be done at home and you can get them here.

Let’s succeed #IndonesiaCegahStunting to acquire the Golden Generation of Indonesia 2045. Visit our website to find out more about stunting measurement tools and other medical tools.