Promoting Mothers’ Love: The Global Child Nutrition Initiative Comes to Indonesia

The following is an excerpt from the church newsroom. To read the full article CLICK HERE.

When Nofi Trisna Atmasari, who is three months pregnant, heard from her bishop in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that the Global Child Nutrition Initiative was coming to Indonesia, she knew she wanted to be a part of the program focused on pregnant mothers and children under five years old. On September 28, 2024, she made the three-hour bus ride from Yogyakarta, where she lives, to the Church’s Surakarta Stake Center to participate in the first nutritional screenings conducted as part of this initiative.

She wasn’t alone. Maria Endriani Wasitosari’s family boarded a minibus with their 10-month-old child and drove two hours from Semarang to the same stake center. She noticed that her daughter was “quite slim” and smaller than other children her age, which caused her some concern and stress. But she would soon find support and solutions there.

Over two weekends in September and October, the highly anticipated child nutrition initiative took place for the first time among 90 children and four pregnant mothers in Jakarta, Surabaya and Surakarta, Indonesia. The Women and Children’s Initiative is a global initiative led by the Relief Society, the Church’s women’s organization. It was implemented in Africa, Central America and the Philippines. Indonesia is the first country in the Church’s Asia region to launch the diverse program, which aims to empower member families to prevent and alleviate child malnutrition.

Malnutrition can have long-term negative physical and mental effects on children. This can lead to stunted growth, resulting in children being too short for their age. Stunting is a priority concern of the Indonesian government. The National Strategy to Accelerate Stunting Prevention sets the goal of reducing stunting in young children to 14 percent of the population by 2024. Upon initial intake, nearly 70 percent of the children were examined by the church and found to be at risk of, moderately or severely affected by malnutrition.

To read the full article CLICK HERE.