Klojen (malangkota.go.id) – One strategy to prevent stunting is to pay attention to the health of prospective mothers from adolescence, including trying to prevent teenage girls from anemia. As done by SMP Negeri 5 Malang City in collaboration with the Midwifery Study Program of Airlangga University through the 'Prevent Anemia through Peer Cadres' program, Thursday (31/10/2024).
This program involves 17 female students as peer cadres to become counselors and motivators for their peers. With this method, it is expected that female students can more easily receive health information from their peers, so that education on anemia prevention is expected to run more effectively.
In this activity, the cadres are equipped with knowledge about anemia to then be able to socialize it to peers and encourage teenagers to increase awareness in consuming iron supplements/blood-boosting tablets. This training is also to develop cadre skills in conducting anemia screening independently and providing support to peers.
Deputy Principal of SMPN 5 Malang City for Public Relations Khusnul Khotimah said that this activity provides insight, especially for health cadres to prevent anemia among teenagers. The school hopes that this activity will also motivate cadres to infect their peers.
"Later, the cadres will be required to pass on the material they received today. The hope is that there will be changes in students' health behavior, such as paying attention to nutritional intake and a balanced diet. The goal is to reduce the number of anemia cases in adolescents, which of course in the future will also affect efforts to prevent stunting," he concluded. (ari/yn)
