Fighting malnutrition

Neighbours train each other in good practices to reduce malnutrition

Edi Setyo, National Health Advisor, Plan Indonesia

In the flourishing and glittering metropolis of Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, the visible opulence veils its sprawling slums populated with large numbers of malnourished children.

Supplementary feeding programmes have traditionally been one method used by local government and organisations like Plan. However, this solution only responds to immediate needs and doesn't address the cause, which means that malnutrition strikes children again when the programme is finished, much to the dismay of their mothers.

A more sustainable solution is required to ensure that families have the capacity to cope with malnutrition.

Our 'positive deviance approach'

This methodology simply puts emphasis on behavioural changes that support the achievement of better nutrition. The teaching, however, is not delivered by health or nutrition specialists but from neighbours! Local people who have been able to keep their children hale and hearty  are in fact assisting families of a similar income-level to themselves. 

In order to reach and impact more children in Jakarta and Bogor, Plan has supported the training of a number of local non-government organizations (NGOs) as well as government-supported health volunteers ('Posyandu').

The "positive deviance" approach requires active participation from the community and trained volunteers working closely with individual families. 

Keen sensitivity and ability of the health promoters to develop rapport with the affected families, help to ensure children in the community continue to be healthy.