Riau Deputy Governor, Edy Natar Nasution, urged the province’s teenagers to get married at an ideal age, specifically 21 years for women and 25 years of age for men, and to avoid early marriage.
“This is because under 21, women, especially their reproductive organs, are still developing, so they are not ready to get pregnant. Hence, teenagers must avoid early marriage,” Nasution remarked here on Monday.
The deputy governor noted that early marriage was a matter of concern since it can harm the health of mothers and children, thereby resulting in a high likelihood for a child being born stunted.
He explained that stunting is a condition of failure to thrive in children under five years of age due to chronic malnutrition in the first one thousand days of life.
“Based on a study by the World Health Organization (WHO), one of the causes of the stunting problem in Indonesia is early marriage, especially since many people consider that early marriage is normal,” he noted.
He emphasized that pregnant women should implement a healthy lifestyle in order to prevent infection during pregnancy. Infections from certain types of bacteria, viruses, or parasites that pregnant women experience can increase the risk of more serious health problems, such as delayed fetal growth or congenital disabilities.
To this end, the deputy governor advised women to take iron supplements to prevent anemia.
He also appealed to teenagers to undergo health screening at least three months before marriage.
Recently, the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs inaugurated a three-month premarital health screening program for couples contemplating marriage to eradicate stunting.
According to the BKKBN head Hasto Wardoyo, through the premarital health screening program, prospective mothers will undergo health screening that will involve blood checks and measurement of the upper arm circumference, height, and weight.
The screening will also check whether a prospective mother suffers from anemia, chronic energy deficiency, or malnutrition.
In addition, the program will provide counseling to the father-to-be to change bad habits, such as smoking or addiction to drugs, to maintain the sperm quality, he stated.
Source: Antara News