STUNTING AS AN INDICATOR FOR HEALTH AND WEALTH - AN INDONESIAN APPLICATION

Poverty exists when individuals or groups are not able to satisfy thei r basic needs, such as food and drinking water, education, health serv ices, adequate housing, and socio-cultural life. Access to resources i s determined by level of income, physical or mental disabilities, disc rimination and physical distance involved. Income is an inadequate ind icator of poverty if this basic need-related definition is accepted. A ll factors contributing to poverty are determined by nutritional statu s. The phenomena of stunting has been proposed as a collective indicat or for poverty, since a chronic state of nutrition insufficiency is ma nifested as growth retardation. It has been demonstrated that Indonesi an children have the same genetic potential regarding body height as N orth American children. Therefore, growth retardation in a population of Indonesian children is caused by environmental factors. The detecti on of stunting provides information concerning the magnitude and sever ity of poverty, but does not identify the specific resources which are lacking. To determine the causes of poverty and to identify the risk groups, a survey should include contributing indicators in addition to stunting recording. In different Indonesian locations the prevalence of stunting varied between 22.6% (in Jakarta) and 68.8% (in West Kalim antan). Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Inc.