Bandung –
The Population Control and Family Planning Agency (DPPKB) of Bandung City has revealed surprising data regarding the condition of adolescent girls in Bandung City. Hundreds of thousands of teenagers are experiencing a deficiency of red blood cells, or anemia, which risks giving birth to children with stunting.
This condition was disclosed directly by the Head of DPPKB, Anhar Hadian. He stated that 11-12 percent of adolescent girls in Bandung City suffer from anemia.
“These adolescent girls are future mothers; they will marry and have children. But if they are already anemic as teenagers, the seeds of their children will be at risk of stunting,” he said via phone connection.
“Because, the anemia rate in Bandung City, as I recall, is 11-12 percent. More than 100,000 people, that includes junior high school, senior high school, and unmarried female college students. The data shows a significant number,” Anhar added.
Anhar then explained that, based on data collection, the cause of anemia among adolescent girls in Bandung City is due to dietary issues. He gave an example, noting that many teenage girls choose to consume spicy snacks like seblak rather than fish.
“So, our teenage girls are malnourished. If the choice is between salmon and seblak, they will definitely choose seblak, something like that. There are so many foods circulating and consumed by teenage girls that do not meet nutritional standards. As a result, many of our teenage girls are anemic,” he detailed.
As a solution, the government has promoted a program providing blood-boosting tablets for adolescent girls in Bandung City. However, Anhar did not deny that many teenage girls are reluctant to consume these tablets due to side effects.
“There is a shortcut, which is the provision of FE tablets. This has been implemented in schools, especially junior high schools. But indeed, it seems many teenage girls do not want to consume FE tablets because they say there are side effects, like feeling nauseous,” he revealed.
