The World Health Organization has long touted breast milk as the ideal food for infants, recommending mothers to exclusively breastfeed for six months. Breast milk helps children to be less prone to chronic diseases such as diabetes later in life, and decreases their risk of stunting, a “largely irreversible” condition in which a child is measured short for their age. some are hopeful that breastfeeding will eventually be the norm by providing lactation counseling to mothers, and training to health workers.
But in the remote islands of Indonesia, where stunting is a nationwide problem and has received significant attention from the government in recent years, breastfeeding faces a host of challenges, including limited knowledge among mothers and structural and sociocultural factors. Formula milk, a convenient alternative for mothers in the islands, is also heavily advertised on social media. Doctors that have the knowledge and authority to recommend it in cases where children are not gaining enough weight are also in short supply.
But some are hopeful that breastfeeding will eventually be the norm by providing lactation counseling to mothers, and training to health workers. One NGO believes that training health workers, including community health workers, will help address the problem not only of breastfeeding, but also child stunting in the islands.