Name : Hofifah

NPM : 1806144720
Faculty : Medical Faculty

Is There Corelation Malnutrition and Sanitation?

We are all aware that the level of Indonesian’s awareness about sanitation or
environment hygiene is lack. The bad sanitation in Indonesia causes malnutrition. Malnutrition
is one of condition which a person suffer deficiency of nutritional intake, such as protein
deficiency and carbohydrates deficiency. Malnutrition in Indonesia has become a widespread
problem, almost in all regions of Indonesia have cases of malnutrition. The major factor of
malnutrition is sanitation.

Sanitation is deliberate behavior in clean life. The purpose is to prevent humans from
direct contact with dirt and other hazardous waste for maintaining and improving Indonesia
people’ health. The majority of Indonesia do not care about sanitation. The low awareness level
of sanitation causes the bad health for their self and environment. The large number of slums
in big cities is a proof that Indonesia people are still not aware of environmental cleanliness as
well as sanitation, not only that, the river which is used as living source by Indonesia people,
its condition is very chronic, most of the people throw their feces in the river. The most of
people do not have latrines, so they defecate in rivers or other places. It worsened sanitation in
Indonesia.
Sanitation has closely related with malnutrition. Good sanitation can reduces the
number of the malnutrition in Indonesia and other country and vice versa. Sanitation totally
influences children’s nutrition. Low sanitation, such as throwing feces carelessly and do not
wash hand before and after do something can make children suffer diarrhea easily.
Sanitation is the major factor in malnutrition. It is proven by diarrhea disease in
children. Increasing frequency diarrhea in children causes a decreasing of absorption in the
body. It is proven by thickening of the area small intestinal, meanwhile, villi on intestinal
become flat. As a result, the nutrients are not absorbed maximally by digestive tract, because
the impermeability increase. How much food intake, if they can not be absorbed, it will causes
the malnutrition to people, especially the children. Ever worse, if it continuous over and over
in the children, it will causes chronic malnutrition, such as stunting. Stunting is where the
children’s height will be hampered and his intelligence will decrease.

The low sanitation level in Indonesia will be a major factor, if Indonesia people still are
not awareness about the sanitation, such as wash their hand, throw the feces in latrines and etc.
Therefore Indonesia Government need to make a policy which contains about sanitation and
give counseling to Indonesia people about importance of the sanitation for their self and
environment.