Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, Indonesia had become one of the countries with the highest burden of stunting and malnutrition in the world. UNICEF predicts that the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to exacerbate the burden of malnutrition in Indonesian children due to an unbalanced dietary habit.

SurveyMETER conducted a telephone survey in a sub-district in Nganjuk Regency, East Java Province in June-July 2020 - with the support of the Knowledge Sector Initiative - to find out the dietary patterns of children under five during the COVID19 pandemic. This survey succeeded in recording 1,321 children under the age group of 25-45 months as much as 62% and the age group 6-24 months 38%.

The survey results showed that the percentage of toddlers aged 6-24 months who never consumed breast milk was still relatively high during the pandemic, namely 23%. Whereas parental awareness is the key to success in breastfeeding for two years to support the first 1,000 days of life and of course requires support from family, environment and society. Complete study results in the form of a Research Brief can be read and downloaded here.