Jakarta – The Free Nutritious Meals Program (MBG), which focuses on the 3B group—pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and toddlers—is considered capable of accelerating efforts to reduce stunting in Indonesia. The government views nutritional intervention during the early stages of life as a strategic step to improve the health quality of future generations.
The MBG initiative targeting the 3B group has become an integral part of the commitment of President Prabowo Subiantoand Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka to develop high-quality human resources, particularly through ensuring proper nutrition during the golden period of the first 1,000 Days of Life (HPK).
The government, through the Ministry of Population and Family Development (Kemendukbangga) and the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN), relies on the MBG program as a key strategy to address stunting from an early stage.
“The MBG 3B program is in line with the national target of reducing the stunting prevalence to 18.8 percent by 2026,” emphasized the Minister of Population and Family Development and Head of BKKBN, Wihaji.
Wihaji highlighted four main priorities to support the success of the program: strengthening the capacity of family planning cadres and counselors as frontline implementers, improving data accuracy based on a by name by addresssystem, reinforcing field leadership, and optimizing public communication through social media.
He noted that the success of the MBG 3B program depends on cross-sector synergy, including close collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) and regional governments. This multisectoral approach involves community health centers (puskesmas), posyandu community health posts, village administrations, and the education sector to ensure that nutrition education and interventions are carried out sustainably.
Similarly, the Director for Synchronization of Regional Government Affairs IV at the Directorate General of Regional Development of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Paudah, emphasized the importance of such collaboration.
“In addressing stunting, implementation in the field involves community health centers, posyandu, village governments, and the education sector so that nutrition education and interventions can be carried out continuously,” he stated.
Therefore, Paudah encouraged regional governments down to the village level to continuously improve accurate and integrated data collection for target beneficiaries. In addition, strengthening digital media is considered crucial to expand stunting awareness campaigns so that regions can develop community-based innovations tailored to local conditions.
This program is expected not only to reduce stunting but also to become a long-term investment in developing superior human resources, with distribution expected to expand massively toward full national coverage by the end of 2026, in line with the directive of President Prabowo.
